1 of 3 | Smoke billows over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip during Israeli bombardment amid intensifying battles Tuesday, December 26, 2023, Palestinian authorities said that 195 people had been killed in a wave of strikes over the past 24 hours. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo
The Palestinian Ministry of Health on Wednesday said the death toll since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 21,000 people.
In its latest update, the Health Ministry said that 195 people had been killed by Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours bringing the death toll since Oct. 7 to 21,110. Advertisement
It added that 325 people had also been injured within the past day bringing the total hurt to 55,243.
Israel Defense Forces confirmed that six people were killed in an aerial attack as it conducted a raid in the Noor Shams refugee camp.
It added that 14 people were arrested and 12 weapons were confiscated from the refugee camp.
The six men killed were between the ages of 16 and 29 and were watching the raid, Al-Jazeera reported.
The latest deaths came after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the war in Gaza a “grave crime” against his people Tuesday.
Speaking to Egyptian TV in his first interview since the Oct. 7 attacks, President Abbas described the conflict Tuesday as “beyond a war of annihilation” and a catastrophe or “nakba” in Arabic, referencing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Advertisement
“What happened in 1948, emigration and destruction, and what is happening now is far uglier than what happened then,” said Abbas who stressed Palestinians were also affected in Jerusalem and the West Bank which he warned could shatter at any minute.
However, Israel warned the fighting was far from over with Israel Defense Forces saying it was widening ground operations to southern and central Gaza after largely defeating Hamas battalions in the northern part of the Strip.
The war would have to continue for “many more months” to consolidate the gains in the north, said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Halevi.
“There are no shortcuts when it comes to thoroughly dismantling a terrorist organization except being stubborn and determined in the fighting,” he said. “There are no magic solutions.”
Egypt unveiled a peace plan Monday that calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the release of all hostages being held by Hamas, the freeing of a significant but unspecified number of the more than 8,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons and the installation of a power-sharing Palestinian government.
Hamas has rejected out of hand the idea of an umbrella administration unifying the various Palestinian factions.
