TEL AVIV: Israel on Monday warned that the Gaza war will continue throughout 2024 as unrelenting strikes killed dozens in the Palestinian territory and Hamas fired a rocket barrage at the stroke of midnight.
A total of 21,978 Palestinians have been killed and 56,697 have been wounded in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 7, the health ministry in Gaza said on Monday.
The figures include 156 Palestinians killed and 246 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that some of the 300,000 army reservists would get a break from the war, in order to prepare for the “prolonged fighting” ahead.
The army “must plan ahead, understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year,” Hagari said as the conflict sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks raged on.
Heavy artillery fire again pounded Hamas-run Gaza, killing at least 24 people, health ministry officials there said, with attacks reported across the length of the territory.
In the besieged Gaza Strip, where the UN says 85 percent of the population has been displaced, 20-year-old Hamdan Abu Arab said he hoped “2024 will be better”.
“We used to go out and enjoy our time on the last day of the year,” he recalled. “But this New Year’s Eve, there are only missiles and the remains of people.”
Qassam Brigades claim to attack Israeli soldiers in Bureij
The armed wing of Hamas, known as the Qassam Brigades, has stated that its members ambushed Israeli forces in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing an unspecified number of occupation forces and wounding others.
Israel’s airstrike on a residential block in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip has left at least three people dead and numerous others injured, according to Al Jazeera’s team on the ground.
Furthermore, in response to Israel’s death last week of a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has asked that the UN Security Council take action.
Hamas commander Adil Mismah killed, Israeli army claims
The Israeli army has claimed to have killed Adil Mismah, a Hamas commander in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, whom it said took part in the October 7 attack, Al Jazeera reported.
It also said it struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Shejaiya and “located large amounts of weapons”. It said a Palestinian cell that attacked Israeli troops with mortar shells was destroyed, and a Hamas fighter launching rockets in Khan Yunis was killed.
It said its attacks continued overnight, with naval troops providing support fire for ground troops, who are pushing further south.
Officials ‘concerned’ ICJ could charge Israel with genocide: Israeli media
According to a Monday article in Haaretz, Israeli authorities fear that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) may accuse their country of committing genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli daily reports that the military leadership has been warned by a senior legal expert handling the matter that there is a “real danger” that the court may issue an injunction compelling Israel to cease its military activity in Gaza.
The state attorney’s office and the military are currently getting ready to handle the South African complaint that was submitted on Friday. The foreign ministry will hold a hearing on Monday.
March for Gaza under way at Istanbul’s Galata Bridge
A march in support of Gaza is getting underway in Istanbul and the 29 civil society groups that are organising the event hope it will attract thousands of people.
Ibrahim Besinci, president of the Turkish Youth Foundation (TUGVA) which is one of the organisers, earlier told an Istanbul news conference that the event was about being “Palestine’s voice” in a “struggle for humanity and justice”.
“We are aware we’re standing at a historic turning point and in such a time, we will raise our voice and spread our message,” Besinci said.
