Israeli attacks continued in the Gaza Strip with little respite, as the death toll in the enclave passed the latest milestone of 22,000.
The total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7 now stands at 22,185, while at least 57,000 have been injured, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said Tuesday. Meanwhile, air and ground attacks continued across the Gaza Strip, including in the south, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people were asked to seek refuge.
About two-thirds of those killed in Israeli bombardments on Gaza are women and children, according to the ministry. Israel launched its campaign following the Hamas raid in southern Israel, which killed around 1,140 people and took around 240 hostage.
A total of 207 Palestinians were killed in 15 Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday. It also reported that 338 people were injured.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Khan Younis in the south, said there was “intense shelling” in the central and southern regions last night and in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“Massive explosions were reported in these two areas, in Khan Younis and in the refugee camps in the central part,” he said. The intensity of the bombing and the fact that many roads and infrastructure were destroyed prevented ambulances from reaching the targeted sites and taking people to hospitals.
Israeli forces struck a house in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, and the majority of the dead were women and children, local Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp, also in central Gaza, at least one girl was killed and several others injured after an Israeli drone opened fire on the market.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, four people were reported killed in an Israeli bombardment.
More than a million Palestinians have been displaced from northern Gaza since October 13, when the Israeli army ordered the population to evacuate to the south with 24 hours’ notice.
Attack on Israeli forces
In the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it clashed with Israeli forces in the eastern part of the camp, while also targeting an Israeli Merkava tank.
The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claims its fighters fought an armed battle with Israeli soldiers in the Bureij refugee camp, which left soldiers injured.
The military wing also announced that it had targeted the Israeli army with mortar shells in the al-Mahatta area of Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had killed Hamas operatives who were laying mines along the Gaza coast and in nearby buildings.
The Israeli military said it also killed three Hamas members in an airstrike after seeing them enter a building south of the northern Gaza City.
Lost carte blanche
With at least 22,000 Palestinians massacred in Gaza, Israel has lost its “carte blanche” from its Western allies, said Adel Abdel Ghafar, a senior fellow at the Middle East World Affairs Council.
“As scenes of carnage, displaced populations, dead children and starvation fill our screens, the tide is truly changing,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune, adding that pro-Palestinian rallies Massive protests across Europe and the United States have put pressure on politicians, with some European countries like Belgium changing their tone on Gaza and calling for a ceasefire, which Israel has strongly rejected.
“It is also very interesting to keep an eye on US politics given that it is an election year and US President Joe Biden’s approval rating is declining,” Abdel Ghafar said. “This will be taken into account in its calculations for this new year.”
