By Abdul Adil
(AA, Wafa, Al Jazeera, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
At least 44 more Palestinians were killed in relentless indiscriminate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 44,708, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Sunday.
A ministry statement added that some 106,050 others were also injured in the ongoing assault.
“Israeli forces killed 44 people and injured 74 others in four massacres of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.
“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads, with rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Meanwhile, six Palestinians, including two women and two children, were killed on Sunday in Israeli airstrikes targeting various locations across the Gaza Strip.
Medical sources at Al-Aqsa Hospital reported that five victims, including a woman and two children, were killed when an Israeli helicopter targeted a tent sheltering displaced families in Al-Mash’ala, southwest of Deir al-Balah. Several others were injured in the attack.
In Gaza City, a woman was killed and others were injured when an Israeli helicopter bombed an apartment near the Al-Yarmouk Mosque in the city center, according to Palestinian paramedics.
In northern Gaza, heavy bombardments were reported in Beit Lahia, accompanied by artillery fire and gunfire from Israeli ground forces. Witnesses said Israeli forces burned homes in the Development Association area of Beit Lahia.
In Jabalia, Israeli forces shelled western parts of the refugee camp and detonated explosives to demolish homes, causing a massive explosion heard across the area.
Israeli air attacks in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 16 Palestinians in separate attacks in the central part of the enclave.
Five members of one family, including children, were killed in an attack on a camp for displaced people in Deir el-Balah in the early hours of Sunday as they slept.
Meanwhile, Israel’s siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza is continuing, with Palestinian health officials reporting on Sunday that Israeli forces had shelled the hospital, damaging electricity and oxygen pumps and disrupting urgent surgeries.
Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital, which is one of only three barely operational in the north of the enclave, said the facility was hit by around 100 tank shells and bombs, wounding several of the medical staff and patients.
“The situation is extremely dangerous. We have patients in the intensive care unit and others awaiting surgeries. Access to the operating rooms is only possible after restoring electricity and oxygen supply,” Abu Safia said in a statement.
The hospital is treating 112 wounded people, including six in the intensive care unit, he said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Abu Safia’s account.
Two Palestinians were killed and many others were injured on Sunday evening, following an Israeli bombardment that targeted a vehicle in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, while a paramedic was killed in the north of the Gaza Strip.
In addition, WAFA correspondent said that the Israeli forces blew up a number of residential buildings in Al-Janina neighborhood east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Earlier this evening, at least 25 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed and dozens of others were injured on Sunday evening, following an Israeli bombardment that targeted Gaza City and Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip.
WAFA correspondent reported that an Israeli drone targeted a group of Palestinians on Street 18 in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of two youths Bilal Hussein and Moataz Hussein, and the injury of others.
Six patients were injured, one of whom was in critical condition, in an occupation bombing that targeted the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, while the occupation forces blew up a number of residential buildings in Al-Janina neighborhood east of Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian youth was killed today after being targeted by an Israeli drone strike in the town of Beit Lahiya, located in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to local sources, the victim was identified as Khalil Ibrahim Qahman, who was killed from injuries sustained in the attack.
Meanwhile, nearly one million displaced Palestinians in war-torn Gaza are at risk of extreme cold and rain this winter, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday.
“Displaced people in Gaza need protection from the rain and cold. Only around 23% of this need has been met, leaving 945,000 people at risk of exposure this winter,” the UN agency said in a statement.
“Aid is urgently required to address the overwhelming needs as the crisis deepens.”
UNRWA said that Palestinian civilians in the central city of Deir al-Balah and across the enclave “search through the rubble of their destroyed homes, trying to salvage what little remains after an Israeli airstrike.”
“As strikes continue, civilian casualties rise, and homes and vital infrastructure are reduced to ruins,” it said.
“The human cost of this war is unbearable,” UNRWA said, reiterating its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to prevent further suffering.
WEST BANK
The Israeli army rounded up at least 10 Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Sunday.
An injured individual was among the detainees in the raids that targeted Hebron, Tulkarm, 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 11,900, 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.
LEBANON
Three civilians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in a new violation of a cease-fire deal between Lebanon and Israel, Lebanese media said.
The strike targeted the town of Dibbin in Marjeyoun district, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The new deaths brought the number of people killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon to 23 along with 24 others injured since the cease-fire came into force on Nov. 27, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Lebanese authorities have reported around 160 Israeli violations of the cease-fire since the deal took effect last month.
In addition to this raid, the Israeli army on Saturday carried out demolitions of houses and buildings in the town of Khiam, resulting in “massive” explosions and plumes of smoke, according to the Lebanese agency.
With these three breaches, the total number of Israeli violations of the cease-fire since it took effect 10 days ago has risen to 158.
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: A view from the area as people mourn after Israeli attacks in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on December 8, 2024. The Israeli army targeted the tents of displaced Palestinians in Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring many of them. Many tents became unusable as a result of the attack. Photojournalist: Ashraf Amra/AA]
