Israeli strikes kill at least 17 Palestinians in Gaza as fighting heads into new year
Israeli airstrikes on the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and the northern town of Jabalia killed at least 17 Palestinians on Wednesday, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment although, in a statement to X, its Arab spokesman warned Al-Bureij residents earlier to evacuate ahead of an imminent military strike that fired rockets into the area.
It also said overnight that it killed Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a Hamas soldier who helped lead the infiltration of Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, attack by the Islamist group in southern Israel.
The order to evacuate the Al-Bureij camp created a new wave of displacement, although it was not clear how many people were affected.
WAFA said the army bombed settlements in and around Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, while tanks bombed parts of Gaza City and Al-Bureij camp.
Israel says its nearly three-month-old operation in northern Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas terrorists from regrouping. Its orders to people to evacuate are intended to stop them, the military said.
Palestinian and United Nations officials say there is no safe place in Gaza and that the exodus is worsening humanitarian conditions for the people.
According to a report by the Palestinian Civil Defense, more than 1,500 tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza were hit by heavy rains two days ago, leaving people exposed to the cold and their property damaged.
Hundreds of additional tents have experienced mild flooding that has left homeless people unable to use them.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been depopulated and destroyed, leading to speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed zone after the end of the war in Gaza.
There is no end
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and a small part of the coast is in ruins.
On October 7, 2023, a Hamas attack in Israel killed 1,200 people, and 251 others were captured, according to Israeli statistics.
The Israeli military says it only targets terrorists and blames Hamas for the deaths because its soldiers operate in densely populated areas. The army claims to have killed 17,000 soldiers, without providing evidence.
The war has wreaked havoc and displaced 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people, many of them multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands live in tents on the beach as winter brings frequent storms and temperatures drop below 10 C at night. At least six infants and another person died of hypothermia, according to the Ministry of Health.
American and Arab mediators have spent nearly a year trying to end the shooting and release hostages, but those efforts have repeatedly stalled.
Hamas has called for a permanent deal, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until the “total victory” of the terrorists.
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