Israeli forces attacked central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday and telecommunications disruptions in much of the area hit efforts to reach Palestinian victims, after Israel’s army chief said the war on Hamas would continue for months.
Reflecting Israel’s determination to eliminate Hamas despite growing global calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the 11-week war would last “months” and there was no “miracle solution” or “shortcut”.
In central Gaza’s Al-Maghazi district, five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike, medical officials said, while in northern Gaza City health officials said the bodies of seven Palestinians killed overnight arrived at Al Shifa Hospital.
Residents also reported heavy fighting in the east and north of Al-Bureij district and in the nearby village of Juhr Ad-Deek, where they said Israeli tanks were stationed.
The Israeli army on Wednesday reported three more soldiers killed in action in Gaza, bringing the total number of military losses in the enclave since ground operations began on October 20 to 166.
An Israeli soldier takes a position in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Dec. 27, 2023. via REUTERS
Nearly 21,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel intensified its raids this week, especially in the central area south of the waterway that divides the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army told civilians to leave the area, although many said there was nowhere safe to go.
An Israeli military vehicle operates in the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2023. via REUTERS
The World Health Organization released footage mostly taken on Monday and Tuesday at several Gaza hospitals, with WHO emergency medical team coordinator Sean Casey saying Gaza’s health capacity is 20 percent of what it was 80 days ago.
‘THIS IS A BLOOD’
“There is blood everywhere in this hospital right now,” Casey said, adding that no place in Gaza is safe.
“We’re seeing almost only trauma cases come through the door and on a scale that’s quite unbelievable, it’s a bloodbath as we’ve said before, it’s a massacre.”
Israel’s military said it continued to attack what it called terrorist targets in Gaza, at one point using its navy to attack suspects it considered a threat to ground troops.
Israeli forces operate in the Gaza Strip on Dec 27, 2023. via REUTERS
In the Shejaia district of Gaza City, an Israeli attack on militant fighters on foot caused a secondary explosion, indicating the area was rigged with explosives to attack troops, an army statement said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported a complete loss of communication with its teams working in the Gaza Strip due to disruption of telecommunications and internet services.
It said in a statement that the VHF radio communication network, the only means of communication during the blackout, was damaged by artillery fire that hit part of its headquarters in Khan Younis, posing a challenge to emergency medical teams trying to reach the wounded and injured. .
A Palestinian man reacts next to the bodies of his daughter and his wife, who were killed by Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing bombardment in Central Gaza by the Israeli army, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Christmas Eve,” UN Human Rights Office spokesman Seif Magango said on Tuesday.
Since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages on October 7 in the deadliest day in Israeli history, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded with attacks that have devastated large parts of Hamas-ruled Gaza.
In addition to the 21,000 Palestinians who were reported killed, thousands more are feared to be buried under the rubble.
Israeli self-propelled artillery units operate during clashes between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, on Dec. 26, 2023. REUTERS
Almost all of the area’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes, multiple times.
Gaza authorities buried 80 unidentified Palestinians on Tuesday whose bodies were handed over by Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the health ministry said.
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According to Waqf Islam, or the ministry of religious affairs, the bodies were collected from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, and blames Hamas for putting them in danger by operating among them, which Hamas denies.
But Israel’s closest ally, the United States, has said it must do more to reduce civilian casualties than what President Joe Biden has called “indiscriminate bombing”.
Six people were killed in the West Bank town of Tulkarm in an Israeli raid, the Palestinian health ministry said.
US-ISRAEL TALK ABOUT THE ‘DAY AFTER’ WAR
In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed plans for what happens when the war ends, including governance and security in Gaza.
The two also discussed efforts to bring back the remaining hostages and the transition to a different phase of the war to focus on Hamas leaders when they met on Tuesday, a US official said.
The United States has urged Israel in recent weeks to reduce its war to more targeted operations. But Washington is still seen in the region as a supporter of Israel and US troops have been attacked by Iran-backed militants in the Middle East.
In an interview with Egyptian TV, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel intends to stay in Gaza after the war “but the whole world does not agree with it”.
People prepare to bury Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli attacks and gunfire, after their bodies were released by Israel, on Dec. 26, 2023. REUTERS
He said the US could “order” Israel to agree that Gaza be part of a future Palestinian state.
There are increasing signs the conflict is spreading.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s missile attack on a container ship in the Red Sea and for an attempt to attack Israel with a drone.
The attack was in response to an Israeli attack on Gaza, the militia said.
An Israeli airstrike killed a senior leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Syria on Monday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
