On the 85th day of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the northern and southern axes of the Gaza Strip witnessed fierce confrontations between the occupation forces and the Palestinian resistance, while the health authorities in the Gaza Strip announced a new death toll since the start of the war.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the number of victims of the Israeli aggression reached 21,672 martyrs, while the number of injured reached 56,165, and added that the occupation committed 14 massacres during the past 24 hours, which led to the death of 165 and the injury of 250.
On the ground, the occupation forces intensified their operations in the Gaza Strip, as the north and south axes, especially in Khan Yunis, witnessed fierce confrontations. The occupation warboats also fired shells extensively at the beaches of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis.
Israeli fighters and artillery intensified their bombardment on the central region, especially the Bureij, Nuseirat and Khan Yunis camps, where there is a high population density of refugees and displaced people from the Gaza Strip.
Tel Aviv Tribune showed new scenes of fierce battles between the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Israeli army in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The scenes obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune showed that vehicles were targeted from zero distance, one of them with a “shawaz” device, and a number of them caught fire.
Occupation losses
For its part, the Israeli army announced that an officer and a soldier were killed, and an officer and three soldiers were seriously injured during the battles in the Gaza Strip. It was also announced that two officers were killed during the battles, one of them a major in the engineering battalion of the Golani Brigade and the other a team leader in the Givati patrol.
The Israeli army also reported that 431 wounded soldiers were still receiving treatment in hospitals, including 44 in critical condition.
The Israeli Channel 12 quoted the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade as acknowledging the killing of 41 of its soldiers in the operation launched by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, and the killing of 7 others in the Gaza battles, including the battalion commander.
On the 21st of this month, Israel announced the withdrawal of the Golani Brigade – which is one of the elite brigades in the occupation army – from the Gaza Strip under the pretext of reorganizing its ranks.
New deal
In a remarkable development, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that the Israeli War Council will meet tomorrow, Sunday, to discuss a new prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance.
This was preceded by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority’s announcement that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Council member Benny Gantz refused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s participation in a joint press conference today, Saturday.
At the same conference, Netanyahu said that the war would continue for many more months, and added, “We have achieved great victories and are incurring heavy costs. Victory requires more time and the fighting will continue for months.”
West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, the occupation forces shot a Palestinian vehicle driver south of the city of Hebron for allegedly trying to run over soldiers at the military checkpoint.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health also announced the death of a Palestinian by occupation bullets at the entrance to Al-Fawwar camp, south of Hebron in the West Bank.
Israeli Army Radio also announced that a soldier was injured in a ramming operation that targeted an Israeli military point near Al-Fawwar camp in Hebron, confirming that the perpetrator of the attack had been neutralized.
The Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) reported that the occupation forces arrested 15 citizens from West Bank towns since dawn on Saturday.
Lebanon Front
On the northern front, the Israeli army said that the Air Force launched a series of raids focused on the Kafr Kila area in southern Lebanon, targeting Lebanese Hezbollah infrastructure.
For its part, Hezbollah stated that it targeted Israeli soldiers in the Beit Hillel area, east of Kiryat Shmona, announcing confirmed casualties.
Before that, Hezbollah said that it targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Ramim barracks with appropriate weapons, hitting them directly.
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 said that a number of rockets fired from Lebanon landed in open areas in the Upper Galilee.
The channel explained that a person was injured after an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon towards the Galilee.
Hezbollah says that it attacked the Ramtha site in the occupied Shebaa Farms, and a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the critical site of Adathar, and caused deaths and injuries among the soldiers, in addition to attacking the Ramim barracks.#News #Gaza_War pic.twitter.com/TUx6xlmRjU
– Tel Aviv Tribune Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) December 30, 2023
Demonstrations and boycotts
In condemnation of the war, demonstrations took place today, Saturday, in a number of European cities to demand an end to the Israeli war on Gaza and in solidarity with Palestine.
Dozens also demonstrated in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, to denounce government complicity in light of the continued bombing and siege of the Gaza Strip, and to demand a ceasefire in the Strip.
The French “Urgent Palestine” movement called for a demonstration tomorrow, Sunday, coinciding with New Year’s celebrations on the Champs-Elysées Avenue in central Paris, to demand an end to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
In turn, the Malaysian McDonald’s company filed a lawsuit against a pro-Palestinian group, demanding $1.3 million due to its calls to boycott companies that support Israel.
A massive demonstration in the Turkish city of Trabzon in support of the Palestinians and denouncing the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/LUScDhyme9
– Tel Aviv Tribune Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) December 30, 2023
Canadian-Jordanian discussions
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he discussed with King Abdullah II of Jordan the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of increasing the volume of humanitarian aid in the Strip, stressing his country’s support for what he called “the right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, dignity and security” and the importance of renewing efforts towards a two-state solution.
Trudeau explained, through his account on the
The number of martyred journalists increased
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that journalist Jabr Abu Hadros and a number of his family members were martyred in an Israeli bombing that targeted his house in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The government media office in Gaza announced that the number of martyred journalists in the Strip since October 7 had risen to 106, after the martyrdom of Abu Hadros.
Warnings of disease outbreaks
The World Health Organization has warned of the increasing risk of an outbreak of infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip, with the people of the Gaza Strip displaced in large numbers towards the south of the Strip, with some families forced to flee more than once, and many taking refuge in crowded health facilities.