New miseries as Israel army warns war will continue throughout 2024
Published: 04:01 PM,Jan 02,2024 | EDITED : 08:01 PM,Jan 02,2024
An Israeli battle tank rolls onto a trailer truck at a position along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel. — AFP
GAZA: Israeli forces battled Palestinians amid the ruins of the heavily-bombed Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the war raging for almost three months piled new miseries in the besieged territory.
In Gaza, where UN agencies have voiced alarm over a spiralling humanitarian crisis, 2.4 million Palestinians remained under siege and bombardment, most of them displaced and many huddling in shelters and tents amid dire food shortages.
'Living conditions... are just hopeless,' said 43-year-old Mostafa Shennar, who fled Gaza City, now a largely devastated urban combat zone, and has been living in the crowded southern border town of Rafah.
Israel has vowed to destroy Palestinian groups and warned the war may continue 'throughout 2024', as efforts toward a new ceasefire have so far yielded no results.
Israel, after suffering the worst attack in its history, has launched a withering offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
The Israeli army says 173 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza in the battle.
The military said Tuesday it was investigating a soldier suspected of shooting dead a Palestinian captured in the Gaza Strip.
'The detained was handed over to the supervision of a soldier, who, under suspicion, allegedly shot him, resulting in his death,' the army said.
Throughout its bloodiest ever Gaza war, Israel has had the backing of its keystone ally the United States, which has however also urged greater restraint to spare civilian lives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which includes far-right and hardline nationalist groups, has said repeatedly it will keep fighting until groups are destroyed.
As 2024 started, a long-running political dispute flared again after setting off mass street protests last year against what is considered the most right-wing government in Israeli history.
The army said it would soon rotate out some of the more than 300,000 reservists called up after October 7, in part to prepare them for many more months of war ahead.
It said reservists from two brigades, which have some 4,000 troops each, will start returning home this week.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said some residents 'will soon be able to return home' to towns and villages near Gaza that were attacked and then evacuated.
US news outlet Axios, citing unnamed Israeli sources, said Palestinian groups have presented Israel with a proposal on Sunday for a new captives exchange deal via Qatari and Egyptian mediators. — AFP
In Gaza, where UN agencies have voiced alarm over a spiralling humanitarian crisis, 2.4 million Palestinians remained under siege and bombardment, most of them displaced and many huddling in shelters and tents amid dire food shortages.
'Living conditions... are just hopeless,' said 43-year-old Mostafa Shennar, who fled Gaza City, now a largely devastated urban combat zone, and has been living in the crowded southern border town of Rafah.
Israel has vowed to destroy Palestinian groups and warned the war may continue 'throughout 2024', as efforts toward a new ceasefire have so far yielded no results.
Israel, after suffering the worst attack in its history, has launched a withering offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
The Israeli army says 173 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza in the battle.
The military said Tuesday it was investigating a soldier suspected of shooting dead a Palestinian captured in the Gaza Strip.
'The detained was handed over to the supervision of a soldier, who, under suspicion, allegedly shot him, resulting in his death,' the army said.
Throughout its bloodiest ever Gaza war, Israel has had the backing of its keystone ally the United States, which has however also urged greater restraint to spare civilian lives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which includes far-right and hardline nationalist groups, has said repeatedly it will keep fighting until groups are destroyed.
As 2024 started, a long-running political dispute flared again after setting off mass street protests last year against what is considered the most right-wing government in Israeli history.
The army said it would soon rotate out some of the more than 300,000 reservists called up after October 7, in part to prepare them for many more months of war ahead.
It said reservists from two brigades, which have some 4,000 troops each, will start returning home this week.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said some residents 'will soon be able to return home' to towns and villages near Gaza that were attacked and then evacuated.
US news outlet Axios, citing unnamed Israeli sources, said Palestinian groups have presented Israel with a proposal on Sunday for a new captives exchange deal via Qatari and Egyptian mediators. — AFP