Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli bombing targeting various areas in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll from the Israeli bombing of the Strip since October 2023 to 45,361 dead and 107,803 injured.
The daily report of the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated, “Israeli forces committed 3 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, with 23 dead and 39 injured arriving at hospitals during the past 24 hours.”
The Ministry indicated that “a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them.”
The Ministry called on “the families of those killed and missing in war to complete their data by registering to complete all data through the Ministry of Health’s platforms.”
Earlier, the United Nations announced that “women and children constituted approximately 70% of those killed in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip between November 2023 and April 2024.”
For its part, the United Nations Emergency Relief Office called again for “urgent aid to be provided to medical facilities in the besieged Gaza Strip, especially to hospitals in the north, “as there are frequent reports of continued attacks on hospitals there and in their vicinity.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “the appeal launched by the office on Tuesday is to provide much-needed food and water.”
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “There are only three artificial respirators available in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip for infants who need intensive medical care, and the situation has deteriorated in the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and Indonesian Hospital hospitals in the north.” Gaza has been affected significantly since Sunday, when the Israeli army said it carried out a limited operation against Hamas in the area surrounding the “Indonesian Hospital.”
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also reported that “northern Gaza remains almost completely besieged.”
New scenes of stray “dogs” eating the bodies of the dead in Gaza
As the war continues in the Gaza Strip, there are frequent scenes of stray dogs eating the bodies of those killed by Israeli bombing, which prevents even the recovery of the bodies, or access to the wounded and injured to save them.
The Director of Civil Defense in Gaza, Raed Al-Dahshan, said on Wednesday, “A number of the bodies of the martyrs were recovered, missing some of their organs that were devoured by stray animals.”
He pointed out that “stray animals have become more predatory due to famine, and the scenes of them devouring the bodies of Palestinians thrown in the streets are “cruel and almost common.”
He pointed out that “most of the bodies that are eaten by stray animals are located in areas close to the concentration of Israeli army forces and the places that it besieges and prevents movement in.”
Al-Dahshan stated that, “More than once during our work in the field, we are forced to expel cats and dogs that have gathered around the bodies of martyrs in the streets,” noting that these scenes are among the most “painful scenes they face throughout the months of the genocidal war.”
He said, “Civil Defense members conveyed dozens of testimonies about this being repeated during the process of retrieving bodies from the field.”
He added, “The bodies that are eaten by stray animals are the ones that the Israeli army prevents civil defense crews from recovering.”
He explained that “stray dogs and cats that cannot find food scraps in the waste due to the widespread famine in the Strip, find what they are looking for in the bodies of the dead.”
He pointed out that “the widespread state of hunger among citizens in the Gaza Strip affected the animals that also could not find food for themselves, indicating that this situation led to a change in the animals’ behavior to become more predatory.”
Al-Dahshan warned of “the exacerbation of these crimes in light of the Israeli deliberate targeting of civil defense crews and preventing them from reaching the targeted locations to recover the dead and wounded.”
Hamas reveals the reason for postponing the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners
Hamas issued a “statement on the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners, noting that Israel has set new issues and conditions.”
Hamas said in a statement: “The ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations are proceeding seriously in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian mediation, and the movement has shown responsibility and flexibility. However, the occupation has set new issues and conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching a solution.” “For the agreement that was available.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that “the negotiating delegation, which includes high-level security officials, returned from Qatar last night after a week of intense negotiations.”
The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing Israeli sources, that “the negotiating parties are close to reaching understandings regarding the Salah al-Din and Netzarim axes.”
Meanwhile, Israeli officials pointed to “serious difficulties” in negotiating a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to what the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation “Kan 11” reported.
The channel quoted a “foreign source” (which it did not name) that the negotiations are recording progress regarding the issue of the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from areas in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of the potential deal.
The channel pointed to “Egyptian reports” talking about Israel’s agreement, within the framework of the talks, to withdraw from the “Nestarim” axis, which separates the northern Gaza Strip from its south, and to reduce its forces in the “Philadelphia” (Salah al-Din) axis.
It is noteworthy that Netanyahu told members of the Knesset that “certain progress” had been made in the negotiations aimed at releasing the Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza.
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa courtyards and perform Talmudic rituals on the occasion of “Hanukkah”
A group of settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque today, Wednesday, and performed Talmudic rituals there on the so-called “Jewish Light of Lights or Hanukkah.”
According to Wafa Agency, “dozens of settlers, protected by the Israeli police, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in successive groups from the direction of the Mughrabi Gate. They carried out provocative rounds and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.”
“In recent years, Al-Aqsa Mosque has been subjected to raids by settlers, while Israeli forces continue their siege, by restricting the entry of Muslim worshipers into it.”
Last updated: December 25, 2024 – 16:00
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