By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
At least 38 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli indiscriminate attacks in the Gaza Strip, taking the overall death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since last year to 45,097, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Wednesday.
A ministry statement added that some 107,244 others were injured in the ongoing assault.
“Israeli forces killed 38 people and injured 203 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.
“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
In the north, Kamal Adwan Hospital has once again come under attack by Israeli forces, while in central and southern Gaza, tents in what were supposed to be safe zones came under fire that killed several people.
One civilian was killed in an Israeli air raid on the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis.
Two others were killed in an air strike targeting a tent sheltering displaced people in the town of al-Fukhari, east of Khan Younis.
At least three Palestinians, including a married couple, were killed, and five injured Wednesday in airstrikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Wafa news agency.
Medical sources at the Gaza European Hospital told Anadolu that the facility received three bodies and treated five victims who were injured in the Israeli strike that targeted a tent sheltering displaced residents and a gathering of civilians.
One strike targeted a tent belonging to the Al-Amour family, killing the couple and injuring three others, witnesses reported.
In a separate attack, witnesses said an Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of civilians in Al-Qarara in northeast Khan Younis. That attack killed one Palestinian and injured two others.
An Israeli drone shelled a tent for displaced people in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing two people, one of the sources said.
Medics also transferred the bodies of two people to Al-Awda Hospital after an Israeli strike north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the hospital said.
Israeli forces also struck a home in Jabalia Nazla area in northern Gaza, leaving two people dead, another medical source said.
Four more people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, he added.
In Gaza City, a child succumbed to his injuries sustained from an Israeli strike in the city’s eastern Al-Daraj neighborhood, he added.
Israeli forces also arrested two fishermen while fishing off the coast of Deir al-Balah city, witnesses said.
Meanwhile, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced Wednesday that its fighters killed Israeli soldiers and targeted an armored personnel carrier in northern Gaza.
According to the group’s statements on Telegram, Al-Qassam fighters “eliminated five Israeli soldiers at point-blank range near the Khalifa Mosque in the center of Jabalia Camp.”
The group added: “We managed to neutralize a Zionist soldier next to a Merkava tank, seize his weapon, and throw two hand grenades into the tank west of Beit Lahia.”
Additionally, the group said its fighters “sniped at an Israeli soldier, hitting him directly in the Al-Tawam area.”
The statement also noted that Al-Qassam fighters detonated a “Shawaz” explosive device targeting an armored personnel carrier near the Imad Aqel Mosque, east of Jabalia Camp.
WEST BANK
Palestinian man dies after being shot by Israeli forces south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces stormed the village of Marda north of Salfit, searching several homes and assaulting Palestinian citizens, according to local sources.
Sources informed WAFA that an Israeli foot patrol, accompanied by several military vehicles, raided the village, forced shop owners to close their stores and restricted citizens’ movement.
Israeli soldiers raided several homes, searched them, and took control of their rooftops, turning them into observation points.
Israeli forces also briefly detained several young men in the center of the village, subjecting them to field interrogation, and severely assaulting some of them.
Earlier this evening, Israeli soldiers blocked the western and only entrance to the village and fired live ammunition at residents who attempted to enter or exit the area.
To be noted, the eastern entrance to the village has been closed by Israeli forces with an iron gate for several months.
Marda village has been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli forces, including the closure of both its entrances, military raids, house searches and assaults on citizens.
Israeli forces continued on Wednesday to bulldoze hundreds of dunums of land belonging to Palestinian residents of the villages of Yasuf and Askar, east of Salfit, for the benefit of colonial expansion.
Wael Abu Madi, head of the Yasuf village council, reported that Israeli bulldozers continued since last night to level land southeast of the two villages for the expansion of a nearby illegal settlement.
Yasuf village has been repeatedly subjected to attacks by illegal settlers and Israeli soldiers, targeting citizens and their property.
Israeli occupation forces seized motorcycles belonging to local residents in the town of Bil’in, west of Ramallah.
Local sources reported that the Israeli occupiers seized several motorcycles after raiding a commercial store in the town.
The Israeli army rounded up at least 15 Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Wednesday.
A woman and child were among the detainees in the raids that targeted East Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to over 12,100, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
The figure does not include those arrested from the Gaza Strip whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.
Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.
An illegal Israeli settler was injured by gunfire in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Wednesday.
A military statement said a bus carrying illegal settlers to Joseph’s tomb site in Nablus came under fire overnight, injuring the driver.
The army said the bus entered the area without coordination with the military, adding that the incident was under investigation.
Venerated by both Muslims (Palestinians) and Jews (Israelis), Joseph’s tomb has long been a flashpoint for clashes between the Palestinians and illegal Israeli settlers.
Jews believe the site to be the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, however, challenge this claim, saying an Islamic cleric – Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat – was buried at the site two centuries ago.
At least 815 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
LEBANON
Israeli army’s drones on Wednesday flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut and its southern suburb in a new violation of a cease-fire deal that took effect last month, state media reported.
Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said Wednesday morning that the Israeli drones flew at a low altitude over Beirut and its southern suburb area.
The new violation came as the Israeli army on Tuesday committed at least 12 violations to the cease-fire.
Israel also demolished several homes in Tayr Harfa, al-Jabeen and Shiheen in Tyre, southern Lebanon, breaching the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli bulldozers, for the third day in a row, also demolished neighbourhoods in the town of Naqoura south of Tyre.
Since the ceasefire deal came into effect at the end of November, Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of breaching the terms of the agreement.
According to NNA, the violations concentrated in the districts of Tyre, Marjayoun and Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon, and in the districts of Rachaiya and Western Bekaa in the country’s east.
The violations included airstrikes, drones and fighter jet flights, destruction of homes, bulldozing streets and artillery shelling.
In the Tyre district, an Israeli drone strike targeted a car in the town of Majdalzoun, leaving three people injured.
The Israeli army also bulldozed a number of roads and destroyed a home in the town of Naqoura. Several homes were also destroyed in the town of Kfarkela.
While artillery struck the towns of Kfarshouba, Halta and Sheba in the Hasbaiyya district, warplanes flew over the districts of Rachaiya and Western Bekaa at a medium altitude.
Lebanese authorities have reported around 249 Israeli violations of the truce since it came into force on Nov. 27.
Since then, according to an Anadolu tally based on Health Ministry figures, at least 30 people have been killed and 37 others injured in Israeli attacks.
Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line – a de facto border – in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days.
Over 4,000 people were killed and more than 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and over 1 million others displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.
Israeli settlers sneaked into southern Lebanon and erected an outpost settlement before they were forced out by the army, the military said on Wednesday.
“Lebanon belongs to us,” reads a banner carried by the settlers as shown by a photo published by them, according to an Anadolu reporter.
The army acknowledged that the settlers crossed the border into southern Lebanon, close to the town of Maroun al-Ras, before they were dispersed.
“This is a grave incident that is being investigated,” the army said.
“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination endangers one’s life and harms the IDF (army)’s ability to operate in the area and fulfill its mission,” it added.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, the settlers were members of the far-right Uri Tzafon group, which advocates the construction of Jewish settlements in southern Lebanon.
Israeli army on Tuesday committed at least 12 more violations of cease-fire in Lebanon that took effect last month to end more than a year of cross-border warfare with Hezbollah, state media reported.
Under the cease-fire terms, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line – a de facto border – in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days.
The US and France are responsible for overseeing the agreement’s implementation, but details on enforcement mechanisms are unclear.
[Photo: Family members of Palestinians mourning for Palestinians killed by Israeli forces at Nasser Hospital on December 18, 2024 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
