By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA. The Muslim News):
GAZA
At least 28 more Palestinians were killed in indiscriminate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, pushing up the overall killing of Palestinians since October 2023 to 46,565, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Sunday.
A ministry statement added that some 109,660 others were injured in the ongoing assault.
“Israeli forces killed 28 people and injured 89 others in two 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.
Around 70 children were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip in the last five days, the civil defense service said on Sunday.
The agency did not provide details on the age of the victims, only saying that they lost their lives in attacks targeting several areas across the Palestinian enclave.
Palestinian children in Gaza continue to bear a heavy toll from Israel’s genocidal war, now in its 16th month, on the territory.
“The new year has brought more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said on Jan. 8.
The Palestinian Sports Media Association (PSMA) reported Saturday that 708 athletes, including 95 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel since Oct. 7, 2023.
The head of the PSMA, Mustafa Siyam, told Anadolu that the deaths of handball coach Ahmad Haroun from the Rabat Handball Club and Anas al-Debji, who played for the Deir al-Balah and Al-Jalaa clubs, raised the number of athletes killed to 708.
He noted that Haroun was killed in an artillery strike targeting his home Friday in the west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, while al-Debji was killed in an airstrike that hit his family’s home Wednesday in the west of Deir al-Balah .
Siyam said those killed include 369 football players, 105 members of scouting organizations and 234 athletes from various sports federations.
He revealed that Israel destroyed 273 sports facilities, including stadiums, gyms and club facilities, either partially or completely.
“These attacks will significantly impact the future of Palestinian sports in the Gaza Strip and have devastating effects on thousands of athletes,” said Siyam, adding that the figures reported are not final due to ongoing airstrikes, the presence of missing persons under the rubble and limited access to areas.
Siyam accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian sports as part of the social and cultural fabric of Gaza, describing the attacks as an “existential challenge” for the sports.
At least seven Palestinians were killed and several others injured in fresh Israeli attacks in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, a medical source said.
An Israeli drone shelled a group of civilians in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, leaving three people dead and injuring others, the source said.
Two more people lost their lives in another strike targeting a gathering of civilians in the Al-Karama neighborhood, northwest of Gaza City, the source added.
One Palestinian was also killed and several people were killed in an airstrike in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and another in the northern town of Jabalia, the medical source said.
Israeli artillery shelling was reported in several areas in Jabalia, injuring several people, including women and children, according to local media.
The Al-Awda Hospital also said that artillery shelling hit near the facility in the Tel Al-Zaatar neighborhood in northern Gaza, without giving details about injuries.
Five Palestinians, including a paramedic, were killed and several others injured on Sunday as Israeli airstrikes targeted northern and central Gaza, according to medical sources and witnesses.
In central Gaza, Israeli artillery shelling hit a home in Al-Bureij refugee camp killing two Palestinians and injuring others, a medical source told Anadolu.
Witnesses said Israeli naval forces launched several shells toward the coastline west of Nuseirat and Al-Zawaida, while drones fired shots southwest of the same area.
In northern Gaza, two more Palestinians were killed and several injured in airstrikes near the Intelligence Towers area northwest of Gaza City, according to a medical source.
The city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza also saw airstrikes and demolitions, witnesses said.
Separately, paramedic Hassan Al-Kahlout from Jabalia refugee camp died from injuries sustained in an earlier Israeli strike on northern Gaza.
Several civilians were injured this evening following an airstrike by Israeli warplanes targeting a residential home in the Al-Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
According to local sources, the assault caused significant damage to the area and left multiple residents wounded, with emergency teams rushing to provide aid amid the destruction.
Simultaneously, the Israeli military demolished residential buildings in the Al-Nazla area of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The attacks coincided with three consecutive airstrikes on Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, resulting in the injury of a child.
Meanwhile, eight Israeli soldiers from the Givati Infantry Brigade were injured including three seriously in an explosion in Jabalia, northern Gaza on Saturday, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported on Sunday.
“Eight fighters from the Rotem Battalion of the Givati Brigade were injured Saturday when an explosive device detonated inside a house they were in, in Jabalia, northern Gaza,” military correspondent Carmela Menashe told KAN.
She added that the three soldiers who were seriously injured are now in stable condition.
WEST BANK
Three Palestinians, including two children, were injured in two attacks by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, medics said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a 15-year-old boy was injured by live fire in his leg and another child, 13, was wounded by bullet shrapnel in his leg in a settler attack on the village of Jaba, south of Jenin.
The organization said the two children were transferred to the hospital for medical attention.
A third Palestinian was badly beaten by illegal settlers in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron city, and was treated on the spot, the society said.
Israeli occupation forces raided the village of Haris, located in the central occupied West Bank district of Salfit, on Sunday night.
Local sources reported to WAFA that the forces stormed the village, targeted several commercial establishments, and seized surveillance camera recordings.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilian vehicles on Sunday evening east of Qalqilya, the occupied West Bank, local sources reported.
The attack occurred on the main Qalqilya-Nablus road near the entrance to the village of Al-Funduq. According to witnesses, colonists, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, threw stones at passing vehicles, shattering the windows of several cars. No injuries were reported.
Israeli settlers launched an attack today on the village of Madama, located south of Nablus, according to local sources.
Abdullah Ziyada, head of the Madama Village Council, told WAFA that settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Yitzhar targeted homes on the southern outskirts of the village.
The attack was carried out under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, who prevented residents from reaching the area to fend off the assault.
Ziyada added that a significant number of Israeli soldiers stormed the center of the village, restricting the movement of local Palestinians and blocking efforts to confront the colonists.
Israeli occupation forces closed several Palestinian commercial shops today in the southern area of Hebron city, south of the occupied West Bank, as part of continued punitive measures against Palestinians in the area.
Mohammad Amro, a local anti-settlement activist, told WAFA that the Israeli forces closed shops in the southern region of Hebron, specifically in the area of Jabal Jawhar al-Kasara. The soldiers placed notices on the doors of these shops reading, “This shop has been closed due to stone-throwing.”
This closure is part of the Israeli military’s practice of collective punishment against Palestinians. These measures include shop closures, curfews, and the detention of young men, typically at the request of Israeli settlers, as part of an effort to pressure Palestinians to leave their homes and make way for settlement expansion.
The closure of these businesses not only disrupts the livelihoods of local residents but also increases tensions in the area, where Palestinians continue to face ongoing restrictions and harassment as part of Israel’s broader strategy of controlling and displacing the indigenous population in Hebron and the surrounding regions.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles today on the road connecting the cities of Nablus and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, causing widespread fear and disruption, according to local sources.
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli settlers ambushed vehicles near the Zaatara military checkpoint, forcing Palestinian drivers to stop. They proceeded to spray the vehicles with pepper gas. No injuries have been reported so far.
LEBANON
Israeli forces have launched more attacks on southern Lebanon, even as the Lebanese army progressed with its deployment in multiple areas as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
Two strikes have been reported in the valley of Houmin in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Videos posted to social media, and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed the impact of the strikes and what appeared to be a resulting fire.
Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement at the end of November, but both sides have accused the other of numerous violations. Lebanon submitted a complaint at the UN Security Council this week, saying that Israel had violated the agreement 816 times between the signing date and December 22.
Hezbollah has warned it will renew attacks on Israel if Israeli troops don’t withdraw from southern Lebanon by the deadline of January 26.
Israeli army on Sunday evening warned displaced civilians against returning to their homes in 62 villages in southern Lebanon despite a cease-fire agreement.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted the warning on his X account with an attached map showing the targeted villages.
“A new reminder for the residents of southern Lebanon… At this stage, it is prohibited for you to return to your homes south of this line until further notice. Anyone crossing south of this line puts themselves at risk,” Adraee said.
Lebanon and Israel reached a cease-fire deal on Nov. 27 to end over 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah group.
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.
YEMEN
Houthi [Ansar Allah] group in Yemen announced Saturday another attack on the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
The group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said their forces targeted the ship in the northern Red Sea using missiles and drones.
Saree claimed the attack was to force the carrier to leave its operational area.
He warned that the Houthis would continue targeting Israel in response to its attacks and blockade of the Gaza Strip.
It follows a previous Houthi claim on Monday that it targeted the same ship in the Red Sea.
