01 January 2024 , 20:30
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Israel launched a deadly New Year blitz on Gaza as its military warned the war would rage on for the whole of 2024.
Around 156 Palestinians were killed and 246 injured in the latest attacks, the region’s health ministry claimed. Witnesses claimed one strike left 20 people sheltering at Al-Aqsa University in the west of Gaza City dead. Residents at the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza also died.
The attacks came on New Year’s Eve and today. As the sun rose over the rubble of the camp on another day of misery for those languishing there, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told how some troops would be withdrawn to allow them to regroup and prepare for a lengthy fight. He said: “These adaptations are intended to ensure the planning and preparation for continuing the war in 2024. The IDF must plan ahead out of an understanding that the fighting will continue for the rest of the year.”
A little girl displaced by Israeli attacks struggling to survive in Rafah, Gaza (Anadolu via Getty Images)Speaking of the New Year’s Eve blitz, Gaza resident Zainab Khalil said: “Tonight the sky in world countries will be lit by firecrackers, and joyful laughs will fill the air. In Gaza our skies are now filled with Israeli missiles and shells that land on innocent, homeless civilians.” The 57-year-old is now in Rafah.
Since the war began last year, 21,978 Palestinians have been killed and 56,697 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza. The attacks were in response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel, which left 1,140 people dead, while 250 others were kidnapped. The UN said 85% of Gaza’s 2.4 million people – almost two million people –have been displaced.
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