War in the Middle East
Israel regrets civilian deaths in attack on Gaza
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip. photo
© Leo Correa/AP/dpa
More than 70 people are said to have died in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on December 24th. Israel expresses regret and wants to investigate the incident. But the war continues. An overview.
After heavy air strikes in the Gaza Strip with dozens of deaths on Christmas Eve Israel expressed regret over the deaths of civilians. Regardless of this, there have also been attacks in recent days in which dozens of civilians are said to have died. Many of the hostages who were abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 and later released are severely traumatized, according to a report. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards vow revenge for the general killed in Syria by Israel.
Attack on Christmas Eve is said to have killed more than 70 people
On December 24, more than 70 people were killed in air strikes in the refugee district of Al-Maghasi, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. Women and children were also among the victims. UN reports even spoke of 86 deaths. According to the UN, more than 33,000 people live in Al-Maghasi in an area of 0.6 square kilometers. An Israeli army spokesman said they were working on drawing conclusions and lessons from the incident. However, Israel also accuses Hamas of deliberately using civilians as human shields.
In the airstrikes on December 24, Israeli fighter jets attacked two targets next to which Hamas fighters were located “as part of the Israeli army’s operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas terrorist targets,” the Israeli army said. Before the attacks, steps were taken to reduce harm to innocent civilians in the area. An initial investigation showed that other buildings adjacent to the targets had been hit. This probably “caused damage to other uninvolved civilians.” A special committee within the army that is responsible for investigating “extraordinary incidents” is now dealing with the incident.
Report of major damage caused by incorrect ammunition
Israel’s Kan broadcaster, citing an unnamed military official, reported that the investigation showed that the appropriate ammunition was not used in the attack. This led to great damage in the immediate area. “This could have been prevented if the appropriate ammunition had been chosen for the operation,” the station reported.
According to the health authority in Gaza, around 21,320 people have been killed in the coastal area so far. Given the high number of civilian casualties, the military operation has been heavily criticized internationally. The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th.
Paramedics: Ten dead in new attack near clinic in Khan Yunis
Another suspected Israeli attack on a building near a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip is said to have resulted in another death. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that ten people were killed and twelve others injured in an attack near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis.
According to medics and the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 20 people were killed in the bombing of a residential building in the area on Wednesday. The information cannot be independently verified. An Israeli army spokesman said they were investigating the new report. Israel suspects that the leadership of the Islamist Hamas is hiding in Khan Yunis.
Report: Many freed Hamas hostages remain severely traumatized
Many hostages who were released from the hands of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in November still require intensive psychiatric treatment weeks later, according to a media report. The hostages suffered the worst abuse and trauma she had experienced in her career, said Renana Eitan, head of psychiatry at the Ichilov Center in Tel Aviv, to The Guardian newspaper. During a ceasefire at the end of November, more than 100 hostages were released, and Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners in return.
Of the 14 hostages being treated by her team, nine were under 18 and two were children under 10, Eitan said. Most of them required long-term trauma treatment. These include children who were drugged with ketamine during their captivity and suffered from severe withdrawal symptoms, as well as those who were sexually abused or had to witness sexual abuse.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards vow revenge against Israel
Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Hussein Salami reiterated old threats against Israel during a speech in Tehran during the memorial service for Brigadier General Sejed-Rasi Mousavi. The general died in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria. “Our revenge is always bitter. But a revenge equivalent to the martyrdom of Sejed-Rasi is nothing other than erasing this regime (Israel) from the page of history,” state news agency Irna quoted Salami as saying. Iran’s leadership had repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel, its declared arch-enemy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.