Israeli Strikes Intensify in Gaza Amid Controversial Peace Conditions
The concentration of air and artillery strikes in the central part of the besieged enclave, after the northern region was completely destroyed, lends credence to the narrative that the real goal of the Israeli government is to make the entire Gaza Strip uninhabitable for the Palestinian people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted peace can only be achieved in Gaza if Hamas is destroyed, the territory demilitarised and Palestinian society “deradicalized”, after warning the war is set to intensify.
⚡️(Better quality) New Hamas video shows its fighters eliminate IOF snipers & blow up israeli military vehicles in the Gaza Strip.
We can see one Merkava tank ignite into flames after being hit with a Shawaz explosive device pic.twitter.com/s7BtWPMpyd
— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) December 25, 2023
The declarations came as the World Health Organization on Monday reported “harrowing” accounts of entire families killed from Christmas Eve strikes on a refugee camp in Gaza.
Relentless Israeli strikes have devastated the Palestinian territory and the conflict has heightened tensions across the Middle East, with global pressure for a ceasefire mounting.
But Netanyahu vowed to stay the course in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday night.
These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza,” Netanyahu said.
He said demilitarisation “will require establishing a temporary security zone on the perimeter” of the territory “For the foreseeable future Israel will have to retain overriding security responsibility over Gaza,” he said.
Netanyahu Visited Gaza
Earlier on Monday Netanyahu visited Gaza, telling a meeting of his Likud party after his return: “We’re not stopping”. “We’re intensifying the fighting in the coming days,” he said, according to a party statement.
On Monday, some residents of the Al-Maghazi refugee camp returned to the ruins of their homes after strikes the previous day that Gaza’s health ministry said killed at least 70 people.
Zeyad Awad said there was no evacuation warning before the strikes. “What should we do? We are civilians, living peacefully and wanting only safety and security,” he said.
WHO staff visited a hospital treating victims of the Al-Maghazi strikes. The “team heard harrowing accounts shared by health workers and victims”, the UN health agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media.
“One child had lost their whole family in the strike on the camp. A nurse at the hospital suffered the same loss,” he added.
⚡️ANOTHER ONE: Hamas published a 2nd video showing scenes of the detonation of a minefield, in a well-prepared ambush, targeting 4 IOF command jeeps, in Juhr al-Dik.
Hamas also targeted the rescue team to evacuate the casualties. pic.twitter.com/ANHGaXgFRL
— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) December 25, 2023
“He was crossing the street in front of the shelter where his family is staying and the building beside him blew up,” he said.
The Israeli army said it was “reviewing the incident”, adding it was “committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians”.
Despite what the IDF claims, the force has intentionally targeted civilians and has also summarily executed entire families – a clear war crime under international law.
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people are enduring dire shortages of water, food, fuel, and medicine, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
Grasping Empty Containers
“Now there is real hunger. My children are dying of hunger,” said one of them, Nour Ismail.
An estimated 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and crowded into shelters or makeshift tents in the winter cold.
“A humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward,” said the head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi.
In Monday’s Likud meeting, Netanyahu said he was ready to support the voluntary migration of civilians out of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
He reportedly told party members “Our problem is not whether to allow an exit, but that there will be countries that are willing to absorb an exit”.
Hamas rejected any discussion of such a plan as “absurd”.
There can’t be exile and there is no other choice than to remain on our land”, it said in a statement.
Netanyahu also addressed parliament on Monday during a special session about the 129 captives Israel says remain in Gaza.
“Now! Now!” relatives chanted as Netanyahu said Israeli forces needed “more time” to increase military pressure on Hamas, which he argued would help to secure the captives’ release.
Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza
The number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza has risen to 158, with an army spokesman announcing two more deaths early Tuesday morning. The real death toll is much higher as the IDF does not release all casualty lists.
Meanwhile, fears of regional escalation only increased on Monday.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said an Israeli air strike in Syria had killed Razi Moussavi, who state media described as “one of the most experienced advisers” of the military force’s foreign arm.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has intensified strikes on targets in Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Yemen’s Houthis have fired at cargo vessels in the Red Sea, leading the United States to build a naval task force to deter the missile and drone strikes. However, most countries originally listed as part of the task force have now pulled out.
