GAZA: Tensions in Israel and Palestine reached new heights as the world ushered in 2025. Over 600 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, while Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 15 Palestinians and left dozens injured.
According to the Wafa news agency, a group of 632 Israeli settlers entered the compound with the protection of Israeli police.
They conducted provocative tours and performed Talmudic rituals, actions which violate the long-established rules that permit only Muslim prayers at the site. Israeli police also reportedly blocked Palestinians from entering the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, including access to the mosque.
Simultaneously, Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Gaza’s Jabalia town shortly after midnight, targeting a house where displaced families had sought refuge. The strike caused the building to collapse, killing 15 people and injuring over 20 others.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed the casualties, while rescue workers struggled to pull victims from the wreckage of the house, which had housed several families, including the Badra, Abu Warda, and Taroush families.
One relative, Jibri Abu Warda, described the devastation: “The house has turned into a pile of debris. It was a massacre, with body parts of children and women scattered everywhere. They were sleeping when the house was bombed. No one knows why they targeted the house. They were all civilians.”
Since the beginning of October, Israel’s military operations in northern Gaza, particularly in Jabalia, have intensified, claiming to target Hamas militants but also causing significant civilian casualties.
The ongoing siege has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, with experts suggesting that the Israeli actions may be part of a larger effort to displace Gaza’s population and pave the way for potential annexation.
As the new year begins, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, with nearly all of the region’s 2.4 million residents having been displaced at least once since the conflict began in October 2023.
