TEL AVIV, Israel – Fourteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the ground offensive began and a sign that Hamas is still fighting despite the weeks. of a brutal war.
The rising death toll among Israeli troops is likely a major factor in Israeli support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led terrorists stormed communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240. hostages. The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killing some 20,400 Palestinians and displacing nearly 85% of the besieged territory’s 2.3 million people.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day.
Israelis still support the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and freeing the remaining 129 captives. That support has remained virtually stable despite growing international pressure against Israel’s offensive and the growing death toll and unprecedented suffering among Palestinians.
But the growing number of dead soldiers – 153 since the ground offensive began – could undermine that support. The death of soldiers is a sensitive issue in Israel, which has mandatory military service for most Jews. The names of fallen soldiers are announced at the top of the newscasts every hour.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the “high price” of war. AP
As Christmas Eve fell, smoke from the fighting still rose over Gaza, while Bethlehem in the West Bank was silent and its Christmas celebrations suspended.
HAMAS DEMANDS A PRICE
All 14 Israeli soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday were killed in central and southern Gaza, a sign of how Hamas is still offering stiff resistance even as Israel claims to have dealt a heavy blow to the militant group.
According to Israeli Army Radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile. The others died in separate battles. Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by gunfire from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has engaged in low-level fighting, raising fears of a broader regional conflict.
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“The war takes a heavy toll on us, but we have no choice but to keep fighting,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
There has been widespread anger against Netanyahu’s government, which many criticize for failing to protect civilians on October 7 and promoting policies that allowed Hamas to gain strength over the years. Netanyahu has avoided accepting responsibility for military and political failures.
On Saturday night, thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv chanting “Bibi, Bibi, we don’t want you anymore,” referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
INSIDE GAZA
Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinians killed have been women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday morning that a 13-year-old boy was shot dead in an Israeli drone strike while inside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, a part of Gaza where the Palestinian army Israel believes Hamas leaders are hiding.
An overnight Israeli strike hit a house in a refugee camp west of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt. At least two men died, according to Associated Press journalists at the hospital where the bodies were taken.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 20,000 Palestinians have died. AP
Palestinians reported heavy Israeli shelling and gunfire on Sunday morning in Jabaliya, an area north of Gaza City that Israel had claimed to control. Hamas’s military wing said its fighters shelled Israeli troops in Jabaliya and the Jabaliya refugee camp.
“The sounds of explosions and gunshots never stopped,” said Assad Radwan, a fisherman from Jabaliya.
Israel has come under heavy international criticism over the civilian death toll, but blames Hamas, citing terrorists’ use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes since October 7 and has largely refrained from commenting on specific strikes.
Israel also faces accusations of mistreatment of Palestinian men and teenagers detained in homes, shelters, hospitals and other locations during the offensive. He has denied accusations of abuse and has said that those without ties to terrorists are quickly released.
Speaking to the AP from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza City said Israeli forces detained him after tanks and bulldozers partially destroyed his home. He said the men were handcuffed and blindfolded.
“We do not sleep. We do not receive food or water,” she said, crying and covering her face.
Another released detainee, Mohammed Salem, from the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, said they were beaten by Israeli troops. “We were humiliated,” he said. “A female soldier came and beat a 72-year-old man.”
Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas terrorists, without presenting evidence, and says it is dismantling Hamas’ vast tunnel network and killing top commanders, an operation that leaders say could take months.
Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. AP
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
The United Nations Security Council approved a watered-down resolution calling for the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to starving and desperate Palestinians and the release of all hostages, but not a ceasefire.
But it was not immediately clear how and when aid deliveries would accelerate, well below the pre-war daily average of 500. The trucks enter through two crossings: Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and Kerem Shalom, on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, Palestinian Authority spokesman for Cruces, said 93 aid trucks entered Gaza through Rafah on Saturday.
Filippo Grandi, UN high commissioner for refugees, reiterated UN calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Smoke rises after an Israeli bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip on December 24. AP Palestinians contemplate destruction after an Israeli attack in Rafah on December 24. AP
“Getting aid to people in need, freeing hostages, preventing further displacement and, above all, the devastating loss of life to stop a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward,” he wrote in x.
Israel’s allies in Europe have intensified their calls for an end to the fighting. But the United States, Israel’s main ally, appeared to remain firmly behind Israel despite intensifying its calls for greater protection for civilians.
US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Saturday, a day after Washington shielded Israel from a tougher UN resolution. Biden said he did not call for a ceasefire, while Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister “made clear that Israel would continue the war until all of its objectives were achieved.”
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