Israeli soldiers participate in the military campaign in Gaza. IT photo
Israel on December 19 bombed towns across southern Gaza with intense air strikes, killing at least 45 Palestinians, and continued its ground offensive against Hamas with new backing from the United States, despite growing international alarm.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that the operation in southern Gaza would last for months.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war had risen to more than 19,600. The ministry does not distinguish between deaths of civilians and Palestinian fighters.
At a hospital in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, father Mahmoud Zoarab was painfully saying goodbye to his two children – a 2-year-old boy and a girl born two weeks ago – who were killed in an attack. The peacock entered their house at dawn.
Wounded in the attack, he winced as he looked at his children’s faces one last time as his wife and mother stood by his bed.
“The baby girl is only two weeks old. She hasn’t even had her birth registered yet,” Ms. Suzan Zoarab said in pain. Criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ms. Zoarab exclaimed: “Does he think that Mr. Would he gain something by killing these children? Have they succeeded now? Has he achieved what he wanted?
Ms. Suzan Zoarab said her family was sleeping when their house was hit by a bomb before dawn.
“We discovered that the entire house had collapsed on us,” Ms. Zoarab said.
It is estimated that 27 people were killed in the Israeli attack on Rafah. Then another attack also in Rafah continued, killing at least three other people. The bodies were transported to two local hospitals.
Rafah, located south of Gaza and where Israel has asked Palestinians to seek refuge, is also being continuously bombed. The attacks often kill large numbers of civilians. Israel said Tuesday it killed a prominent Hamas financier in an airstrike on Rafah, without specifying when the incident occurred.
The Israeli army also raided a series of hospitals and shelters in the north, arresting men in search of Palestinian fighters and expelling others taking refuge there. Specifically, Israeli forces raided Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City overnight, destroying the wall at the front entrance and arresting most of the hospital’s staff.
In southern Gaza, military operations will last “several months,” Gallant said, including an Israeli army attack on Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city. “We will not stop until we achieve our goal,” Israel’s defense minister declared.
After meeting with Israeli officials on Monday, December 18, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel to protect civilians but reiterated US support for Israel in the fight against Hamas, emphasizing that he is “not here to dictate timelines or terms”.
Mr Austin’s comments signal that the US will continue to defend Israel from growing international calls for a ceasefire – and will continue to provide aid for one of the deadliest military campaigns of the century 21.
