Israel continues to bomb the Gaza Strip. Residents report heavy shelling in the middle of the coastal strip. The UN Human Rights Office expressed grave concern.
The Israeli army has continued its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip. According to the army, dozens of combat aircraft in conjunction with ground troops again attacked more than 100 targets. Among other things, tunnel shafts belonging to the militant Islamist Hamas were attacked.
During the night, a terrorist cell in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip that tried to plant explosives near an Israeli tank was eliminated. The troops fought the terrorists. A fighter plane then killed her. The military’s information cannot currently be independently verified.
Gray areas: Built-up areas in the Gaza Strip. Hatching: Israeli army
Residents report “heavy bombardment”
At least 52 people were killed in the latest attacks, according to the Hamas-controlled coastal health authority. The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported several deaths and injuries after an attack on a house in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip. A specific number of victims was not given. A video reporter from the AP news agency who was at the scene reported at least two bodies and 15 injured people – most of them children.
Residents told the AP that several locations in the central Gaza Strip were bombed by the Israeli military. Rockets and artillery shells hit the refugee settlements of Nuseirat, Maghasi and Bureij. “The bombardment was very heavy,” said teacher Radwan Abu Scheitta. He expressed the suspicion that the Israeli ground offensive there should be expanded. “It looks like they’re getting closer.”
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said Hamas members had fired on an Israeli tank outside Bureij. This could not be confirmed independently.
So far, Israeli ground troops have been fighting fiercely with Hamas in the north and around the city of Khan Yunis in the south.
UN criticize intensively Bombings
A spokesman for the UN human rights office expressed deep concern about the continued Israeli bombings in the central Gaza Strip. Since Christmas Eve, 137 people have died in two refugee camps alone, the office said on Tuesday, citing information from the organization Doctors Without Borders. More than 50 airstrikes were reportedly carried out on December 24 and 25. Three refugee camps or settlements were hit.
All roads between the camps have been destroyed, making the supply of relief goods significantly more difficult. The supply situation was already catastrophic beforehand. The UN Human Rights Office recalled that in order to comply with international humanitarian law, Israeli forces must do everything possible to avoid harming civilians. “Warnings and evacuation orders do not release them from all obligations under international humanitarian law.”
The number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli army attack has risen to 20,915, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. In the past 24 hours alone, 241 people were killed. A total of 54,918 people were injured in the fighting.
The numbers cannot currently be checked. The UN and other observers point out that they have proven to be generally credible in the past.
Gallant sees “Multi-front war”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to troops fighting in Gaza that Israel would “deepen the fight in the coming days.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also hinted at retaliatory measures against Iraq, Iran and Yemen. “We are in a multi-front war and are being attacked from seven theaters: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria (West Bank), Iraq, Yemen and Iran,” he said, according to Israeli media. “We have already responded and acted in six of these areas and I am saying here very clearly: anyone who takes action against us is a potential target, there is no immunity for anyone.”
In the border area between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah and the Israeli army fired at each other again. The Shiite militia, which operates from Lebanon and is allied with Iran, said it had shelled military targets in Israel and scored “direct hits”. She also met Israeli soldiers near Shomera, further west.
The Israeli army said an anti-tank missile hit a church in northern Israel. A civilian was also injured in the town of Ikrit.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.