Around a hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent hours in massive Israeli strikes according to Hamas in Gaza. Entering its 80th day, the war, triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, offers no respite to Palestinian civilians threatened with famine according to the UN in the overpopulated territory of 362 km2, despite urgent appeals to a ceasefire.
According to a latest report from the Hamas Health Ministry in power in Gaza since 2007, 20,674 people died in Israeli military operations, the majority women, children and adolescents, as well as nearly 55,000 injured.
Netanyahu in Gaza on Monday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had visited Gaza on Monday and promised “an intensification” of the ongoing fighting in the Palestinian territory against Hamas.
“I am now returning from Gaza. We are not stopping, we are continuing to fight and we are intensifying the fighting in the days to come and it will be a long war that is not about to end,” Benjamin Netanyahu declared before the elected from his party, Likud, according to a press release from the latter.
Massive bombings
Israeli aircraft and artillery continue to massively bombard the Gaza Strip on Monday on the 80th day of a conflict which offers no respite to civilians threatened with starvation according to the UN, despite international pressure for a cease-fire. fire.
Information to remember:
- Early Monday, a bombing killed 12 near the small village of Al-Zawaida
- 156 Israeli soldiers have died since the start of the ground offensive in the Palestinian territory
- 129 people still detained by Hamas
- Pope Francis denounced “the losing logic of war” on Sunday, during Christmas mass in Rome.
Early Monday, a bombing killed 12 people near the small village of Al-Zawaida (center), according to the Hamas health ministry. According to an AFP correspondent, intense bombings took place overnight in Rafah and Khan Younes, in the south of the overpopulated Palestinian territory, subject to an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years and a total siege for more than two months.
In Khan Younes, strikes left at least 18 dead. At least 70 people were also killed in a strike on Sunday on the al-Maghazi refugee camp, according to Hamas. Asked by AFP, the Israeli army said it was “investigating” this “incident” and respecting international law.
156 Israeli soldiers dead
On the Israeli side, more than fifteen soldiers have died in the last three days. On Monday morning, the army announced the death of two new soldiers, bringing to 156 its casualties since the start of the ground offensive in the Palestinian territory on October 27. “We are paying a very heavy price for the war, but we have no choice but to continue fighting,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Sunday.
129 people still detained by Hamas
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, after an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which left around 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to the latest official Israeli figures.
Hamas fighters also kidnapped around 250 people, 129 of whom remain detained in Gaza, according to Israel. Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of bombs were dropped, left 20,424 people dead, mostly women, teenagers and children, according to the Hamas government. “We are facing monsters,” insisted Benjamin Netanyahu in his Christmas message to Christians around the world. “This is a battle, not only of Israel against these barbarians, but also a battle of civilization against barbarism.”
Pope Francis denounces “the losing logic of war”
In this context, the Palestinians did not have the heart for Christmas celebrations, largely marked by the war. “(..) Nobody feels the holiday spirit,” sighed to AFP Fadi Sayegh, a Palestinian Christian who spent New Year’s Eve stuck with his dialysis in a hospital in Khan Younes.
“We must stop these hostilities and turn the page,” pleaded Sunday the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who came to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem in the West Bank with a black and white keffiyeh around his neck. Pope Francis denounced Sunday, during Christmas mass in Rome, “the losing logic of war”.
85% of Gaza population displaced
Nearly three months after the start of the conflict, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where 85% of the population has been displaced, is desperate, various UN agencies have been reminding us for several days.
The United States, Israel’s historic allies, is increasingly insisting, in the face of heavy Palestinian civilian losses, that Israel favor more targeted operations.
Most hospitals are out of service in Gaza and in the next six weeks the entire population risks experiencing a high level of food insecurity, leading to famine, according to the UN.
On Saturday, a new mission led by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited hospitals in Gaza City, including the delivery of more than 19,000 liters of fuel oil to al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory, which was besieged by the Israeli army in November, its boss, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced Sunday evening on X (formerly Twitter).
Acts of torture?
For their part, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are still trying to negotiate a new truce, after a seven-day break in fighting at the end of November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners as well as the entry into Gaza of important humanitarian aid convoys.
The leader of Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed movement allied with Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union in particular, arrived in Cairo on Sunday for negotiations.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that it had discovered “an arms depot adjacent to schools, a mosque and a medical center”, which contained “explosive belts suitable for children, dozens of mortar shells, hundreds of grenades and intelligence equipment.
As part of its operations, it indicates that it arrests “individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities”. “People who are found not to participate in terrorist activities are released,” she assures.
But released Palestinians told AFP they had been tortured, which the army denies. “They handcuffed our hands behind our backs for two days. We weren’t allowed to eat or drink, nor were we allowed to use the toilet, just beatings and beatings,” said Nayef Ali, 22 years. Hamas on Sunday called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the arrests.