GAZA: Israel pushed on Sunday with its military campaign over the October 7 attacks, as the focus of the deadly combat shifted to southern Gaza where most displaced Palestinians are trapped.
US President Joe Biden stressed the “critical need” to protect civilians, in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel would “continue the war until all of its goals have been achieved”, officials said.
As heavy fighting raged on, the Israeli army said it had struck another 200 targets in the past 24 hours in the besieged Palestinian territory where it is seeking to defeat the Palestinian groups and free remaining captives.
The army said 153 troops had died in Gaza since it launched its ground invasion on October 27. Ten soldiers were lost in battles on Saturday, one of the deadliest days for the Israeli side.
“This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza,” said Netanyahu. “The war is exacting a very heavy price... but we have no choice but to keep fighting.”
The army said soldiers had raided a northern Gaza compound near schools, a mosque and a clinic.
Palestinian groups rejected Israeli claims over raids as lies meant “to justify their massacring of innocent civilians and their destructive aggression that has affected the entire infrastructure... in the already blockaded Gaza Strip”.
Israel’s withering military campaign, including massive aerial bombardment, has killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
Eighty per cent of Gazans have been displaced many now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents and forced into the south of Gaza even as ground fighting comes closer.
On Friday, the United States allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that effectively called on Israel to allow “immediate, safe and unhindered” deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza “at scale”.
World powers had wrangled for days over the wording and, at Washington’s insistence, toned down some provisions — including removing a call for a ceasefire.
As the war rages on, Christians around the world celebrate Christmas Eve, and festivities are usually held in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.
But this year the city is almost deserted, with few worshippers around and no Christmas tree erected, after church leaders decided to forego “any unnecessarily festive” celebrations, in solidarity with Gazans. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
