At least 70 killed in central Gaza in airstrike, adding to weekend's bloodshed
The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
By Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Madgy | Associated Press ••
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
Israeli army troops are seen near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel.
At least 70 people were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, health officials said Sunday, while the number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat over the weekend rose to 15.
Associated Press journalists at a nearby hospital watched frantic Palestinians carry the dead, including a baby, and wounded following the strike on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah. One bloodied young girl looked stunned while her body was checked for broken bones.
“We were all targeted,” said Ahmad Turkomani, who lost several family members including his daughter and grandson. “There is no safe place in Gaza anyway.”
As Christmas Eve fell, smoke rose over the besieged territory, while in the West Bank Bethlehem was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off. In neighboring Egypt, tentative efforts continued on a deal for another exchange of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel.
The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
The mounting death toll among Israeli troops — 156 since the ground offensive began — could erode public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage.
Israelis still largely stand behind the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. That's despite rising international pressure against Israel’s offensive, and the soaring death toll and unprecedented suffering among Palestinians.
Hamas exacts a price
“The war exacts a very heavy price from us, but we have no choice but to continue fighting,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
In a nationally televised speech, Israeli President Isaac Herzog appealed for the country to remain united. “This moment is a test. We will not break nor blink,” he said.
There has been widespread anger against his government, which many criticize for failing to protect civilians on Oct. 7 and promoting policies that allowed Hamas to gain strength over the years. Netanyahu has avoided accepting responsibility for the military and policy failures.
“Over time, the public will find it hard to ignore the heavy price paid, as well as the suspicion that the aims that were loudly heralded are still far from being attained, and that Hamas is showing no signs of capitulating in the near future," wrote Amos Harel, military affairs commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
The Israeli military said it had completed the dismantling of Hamas’ underground headquarters in northern Gaza, part of an operation to take down the vast tunnel network and kill off top commanders that Israeli leaders have said could take months.
Since 1997, the U.S. has designated Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Efforts toward negotiations continued. The head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, arrived in Egypt for talks. The militant group, which also took part in the Oct. 7 attack, said it was prepared to consider releasing hostages only after fighting ends. Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo for talks days earlier.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.
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Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Fire and smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Six weeks of fighting since then has seen hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee to southern Gaza, where they cram into shelters and take refuge with friends and family.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations, killing hundreds and taking captives. Palestinian health officials reported scores of deaths from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son’s funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Col. Roi Levy was killed after Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns. Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus was caught completely off guard, bringing heavy battles to its streets for the first time in decades.
Hatem Moussa/AP
The rubble of the Sousi Mosque, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, is seen at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.
Mohammad Al Masri/AP
Palestinians evacuate wounded in Israeli aerial bombing on Jabaliya, near Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct.11, 2023.
Erik Marmor/AP
Israeli soldiers surround a Palestinian who ran at them with a knife at the site of a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.
Francisco Seco/AP
A woman lights candles in honor of victims of the Hamas attacks during a vigil at Dizengoff square in central Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. The writing reads: “Out of Words.”
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct.16, 2023.
Hassan Eslaiah/AP
Palestinians look for survivors in buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Deir el-Balah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel over destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
Petros Giannakouris/AP
An Israeli woman touches photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza, displayed on a wall in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Relatives of people kidnapped by Hamas militants and supporters organized a protest Saturday calling for the return of more than 200 hostages held in Gaza for two weeks.
Abed Khaled/AP
A wounded Palestinian woman runs following Israeli airstrikes that targeted her neighborhood in Gaza City, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Omar El-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke and fire rise from buildings as people gather amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City on October 26, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.
Omar El-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke and fire rise from buildings as rescuers gather amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City on October 26, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.
Abed Khaled/AP
A man sits on the rubble as others wander among debris of buildings that were targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.
Hatem Ali/AP
Palestinians with dual nationality register to cross to Egypt on the Gaza Strip side of the border crossing in Rafah on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images
An Israeli artillery unit fires during a military drill in the annexed Golan Heights near the border with Lebanon on November 2, 2023. Lebanon’s southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since Hamas militants launched an unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Jonathan Ernst/AP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits onboard the plane during his visit to Israel as he departs en route to Jordan, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Blinken is in Israel to press for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into besieged Gaza.
Abed Khaled/AP
Palestinians strike the concrete while looking for survivors under the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire caused by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Israeli army troops are seen next to a destroyed building during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
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A Palestinian gunman runs past burning tires during confrontations with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on November 9, 2023.
Abed Khaled/AP
Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.
Hatem Ali/AP
A Palestinian boy stands among the destruction after Israeli strikes on Rafah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
A man carries his daughter in a wheelbarrow through the flooded streets of a U.N. displacement camp after rainfall in the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images
A relative tries to salvage some personal items from the home of the Palestinian Sheikh el-Eed family, a day after it was hit by Israeli bombardment killing the mother and two of her children, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
Palestinian medics care for premature babies evacuated from Al Shifa hospital to the Emirates hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2023. A top health official in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said all 31 premature babies at Al-Shifa hospital had been evacuated on November 19 from the facility which the WHO has described as a “death zone”.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
A Palestinian woman reacts as people inspect the damage following Israeli strikes on Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip, on November 20, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
A Palestinian man reacts after in an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli soldiers patrol on the top of the Mount Hermon near the border with Lebanon in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on November 20, 2023, amid increasing cross-border tensions as fighting continues with Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
Palestinians stand next to a mural of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat amidst the debris following Israeli bombardment on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Palestinians flee to northern Gaza as Israeli tanks block the Salah al-Din road in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as the four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war begins as part of an agreement that Qatar helped broker.
Leo Correa/AP
A group of Israelis celebrate as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, Sunday Nov. 26, 2023. The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis and the first American, in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners in a third set of releases under a four-day truce.
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
A protester burns tires in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 27, 2023, ahead of an expected release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The Israeli government said on November 27, it had put Hamas “on notice” that an “option for an extension” of the truce in the Gaza Strip was open.
Karim Sahib/AFP via Getty Images
Palestinians evacuated from the Gaza Strip board a plane at Egypt’s El-Arish International Airport bound for Abu Dhabi early on November 27, 2023, as part of a humanitarian mission organised by the United Arab Emirates. Israel and Hamas announced a deal on November 22, allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed while offering besieged Gaza residents a four-day truce after weeks of all-out war.
Hatem Ali/AP
Palestinians line up for food in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, during a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
People sit around a camp fire in the midst of destroyed buildings in the Khezaa district on the outskirts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a truce between Israel and Hamas entered its 7th day on November 30, 2023.
Nasser Nasser/AP
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, center, is supported by her mother after she was released from prison by Israel, in the West Bank town of Ramallah, early Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. International mediators worked to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas militants to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive.
Nasser Nasser/AP
A man smiles as he is welcomed after being released from prison by Israel, in the West Bank town of Ramallah, early Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. International mediators on Wednesday worked to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas militants to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Thai hostages who were freed from Hamas observe a minute of silence upon their arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Twenty-three Thai hostages kidnapped by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel have been freed so far, and Thailand’s foreign ministry says nine remain in captivity in Gaza.
INSIDE GAZA
Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinians killed have been women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
On Friday, Israeli airstrikes on two homes in Gaza killed 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, according to rescuers and hospital officials. One of the homes, located in Gaza City, became one of the deadliest airstrikes in the war after 76 people from the al-Mughrabi family were killed, said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense department.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in an Israeli drone attack while inside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, a part of Gaza where Israel's military believes Hamas leaders are hiding.
An Israeli strike overnight hit a house in a refugee camp west of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt. At least two men were killed, according to Associated Press journalists in the hospital where the bodies were taken.
At least two people were killed and six others wounded when a missile stuck a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
And Palestinians reported heavy Israeli bombardment and gunfire in Jabaliya, an area north of Gaza City that Israel had claimed to control. Hamas’ military arm said its fighters shelled Israeli troops in Jabaliya and Jabaliya refugee camp.
Israel faces international criticism for the civilian death toll but it blames Hamas, citing the militants’ use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes since Oct. 7. It says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants, without presenting evidence.
Israel also faces allegations of mistreating Palestinian men and teenage boys detained in homes, shelters, hospitals and elsewhere during the offensive. It has denied abuse allegations and said those without links to militants are quickly released.
Speaking to the AP from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza City said Israeli forces detained him after tanks and bulldozers partly destroyed his home. He said men were handcuffed and blindfolded.
“We didn’t sleep. We didn’t get food and water,” he said, crying and covering his face.
Another released detainee, Mohammed Salem, from the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah, said Israeli troops beat them. “We were humiliated,” he said. “A female soldier would come and beat an old man, aged 72 years old.”
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
The United Nations Security Council has passed a watered-down resolution calling for the speedy delivery of humanitarian aid for hungry and desperate Palestinians and the release of all the hostages, but not for a cease-fire.
But it was not immediately clear how and when deliveries of food, medical supplies and other aid, far below the daily average of 500 before the war, would accelerate. Trucks enter through two crossings: Rafah, and Kerem Shalom on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, said 123 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday,
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reiterated U.N. calls for a humanitarian cease-fire, adding on social media that “the decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy.”
Amid concerns about a wider regional conflict, the U.S. Central Command said a patrol ship in the Red Sea on Saturday shot down four drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, a while two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired into international shipping lanes.
The Iran-backed Houthis say their attacks are aimed at Israel-linked ships in an effort to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Israel's military said the bodies of three Israeli hostages held in Gaza had been recovered.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffery in London contributed to this report.
