Residents of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip reported that fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing occurred on Friday night. This came after Israel’s ruthless campaign of retaliation claimed the lives of nearly 200 Palestinians in a single day.
The number of confirmed Palestinian deaths from Israeli strikes in a 24-hour period was reported by Gaza health authorities to be 187, bringing the total to 21,507, or almost 1% of the population of Gaza. It is thought that there are thousands more bodies buried beneath the rubble of neighborhoods.
⚡️WATCH: Hamas published a brand new video showing scenes of targeting IOF soldiers & targeting military vehicles penetrating into the Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj neighborhoods in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/TRkClp7nbB
— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) December 29, 2023
According to Palestinian journalists and doctors, Israeli aircraft also conducted a series of airstrikes on the Nuseirat camp located in central Gaza.
In anticipation of a planned additional advance into the main southern city, Israeli forces have been hammering Khan Younis. In the past few weeks, the invading soldiers have not advanced very far.
According to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, troops are making their way to Hamas weapons stores and command centers. Additionally, the Israeli military declared that it had demolished a network of tunnels located in the basement of Yahya Sinwar’s Gaza City residence, the leader of Hamas for Gaza.
The 2.3 million residents of Gaza have almost all fled their homes at least once, and many are now on the move once more. They are frequently forced to seek refuge in improvised tents or gathered under tarpaulins and plastic sheets on open land.
Approximately 40 km (25 miles) long, the slender coastal strip is home to some of the world’s densest populations.
Health officials and other journalists reported that a Palestinian journalist employed by Al-Quds TV was murdered, along with a few members of his family, in an airstrike on their home in the Nuseirat camp located in the central Gaza Strip.
According to the government media office in Gaza, the Israeli offensive has resulted in the deaths of 106 Palestinian journalists.
According to a report released last week by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the first ten weeks of the conflict between Israel and Gaza were the deadliest for journalists ever, with the highest number of journalists killed in a single year in one place.
The majority of media personnel and journalists who died in the conflict were Palestinian. The American-based CPJ said in its report that it was “particularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military.”
A Reuters investigation earlier this month revealed that on October 13, when the reporters were documenting cross-border shelling in Lebanon, an Israeli tank crew fired two shells quickly after, killing Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounding six others.
⚡️Hamas published a video showing the firing of missiles from northern Gaza towards occupied territories. pic.twitter.com/hbWdfwQLDy
— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) December 29, 2023
Even its most ardent friends are concerned about the high death toll, despite Israel’s past claims that it has never and would never intentionally target journalists and that it is doing everything in its power to prevent civilian casualties.
Although it hasn’t shown any signs of doing so thus far, the US has called for Israel to end the conflict in the upcoming weeks and switch to targeted attacks against Hamas leaders.
On Friday, South Africa requested an immediate decision from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stating that Israel’s ruthless campaign against the Gaza population violated its duties under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
It called on the court to issue short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.
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