15 more Palestinians killed in Israeli New Year strike
01 Jan 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she holds the hand of a relative, killed in an Israeli strike, at Al Ahli Arab Hospital on Wednesday. AFP
Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike killed at least 15 people in the territory's north on Wednesday, in what it called the first deadly attack of the New Year.
"The world welcomed the New Year with celebrations and festivities, while we witnessed 2025 begin with the first Israeli massacre in the town of Jabalia just after midnight," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
"Fifteen people were martyred and more than 20 were injured" in the strike on a house where displaced people were living, he said. Two further Israeli strikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed another 10 people, including children, the civil defence agency said.
Several displaced Gazans said they were facing not just Israeli bombardments but also falling temperatures and heavy rains, which have flooded thousands of tents across the territory. "For three days, we haven't slept out of fear that our children would fall sick because of the winter, as well as fear of missiles falling on us," said Samah Darabieh, a displaced woman now living in Beit Lahia. "Two days ago, they bombed Al Wafaa hospital, which is behind us, and the shrapnel dropped here."
Palestinian women mourn relatives, killed in an Israeli strike the previous night, at Al Ahli Arab Hospital. AFP
One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the coastal territory, where Israel has waged a major operation since early October. Gaza's Health Ministry said seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and at least a dozen other people were wounded.
Another strike overnight in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. "Are you celebrating? Enjoy as we die. For a year and a half, we have been dying," said a man carrying the body of a child in the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said seven children have died from the cold over the past week.
Since October 6, the military has been conducting a major land and air offensive in northern Gaza, particularly targeting Jabalia and its adjacent refugee camp.
The dead and wounded from the strike in Jabalia were taken to Al Mamadani Hospital, a rescuer said. A relative said rescuers were still searching for any survivors. "The house has turned into a pile of debris," said Jibri Abu Warda, adding that the strike hit at around 1:00 am (2300 GMT Tuesday). He said the explosions shook the area, and rescuers reached the targeted house only in the morning.
"It was a massacre, with body parts of children and women scattered everywhere. They were sleeping when the house was bombed," Abu Warda said. "No one knows why they targeted the house. They were all civilians."
At Al Mamadani Hospital, women wept over shrouded bodies in the morgue, some of them those of children. "We don't want aid, we want the war to stop. Enough with the bloodshed! Enough!" said Khalil Abu Warda, a relative of the deceased.
Many displaced Palestinians in central Gaza rely on charity kitchens as their sole food provider amid restrictions on aid and skyrocketing prices. AP footage shows a long line of children waiting for rice, the only item served at the kitchen in Deir Al Balah on Wednesday.
"Some of those kitchens close because they don't receive aid, and others distribute little amounts of food and its not enough," said Umm Adham Shaheen, displaced from Gaza City.