Israel’s Netanyahu vows no let-up in war against Hamas as Gaza deaths mount

While Palestinians grieved the deaths of more than one hundred persons who were murdered overnight in Israeli bombings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue the war against Hamas terrorists on Monday. Gaza health authorities said that Israeli airstrikes were responsible for the deaths.

In the eleven-week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas, Netanyahu paid a visit to Israeli forces stationed in the northern Gaza Strip. This visit occurred just a few hours after one of the worst nights in the besieged zone.

Israel has been under pressure from its closest ally, the United States, to move operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase and limit civilian fatalities as a form of retaliation against Hamas for their deadly cross-border raid that occurred on October 7.

Netanyahu warned MPs from his Likud party that the conflict was not even close to ending. He also disputed what he referred to as media rumors that his administration might call a halt to the battle. He predicted that Israel would not be able to successfully liberate its other prisoners if it did not initially apply military pressure.

No, we are not going to quit. “The war will continue until the end, until we finish it, no less,” Netanyahu declared during his visit to Gaza. He has ignored appeals from the international community for a truce.

At a burial in Gaza, a line of Palestinian mourners caressed the white shrouds that were placed over the remains of at least seventy people. According to Palestinian health authorities, an airstrike that hit Maghazi in the middle of the strip killed these people.

According to Ibrahim Youssef, a man, his wife, and four children, including a newborn who was only four months old, were buried under the debris of the house in Maghazi, where they were residing.

He questioned, “What exactly did they do wrong?” “Were there resistance fighters here?”

There was a continuation of the strikes that started a few hours before midnight on Monday. Israel has reportedly increased its air and ground bombardment in the center of Gaza, according to Palestinian media.

Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, stated that a significant number of people being murdered in Maghazi were females and children. As a result of Israeli planes and tanks striking homes and highways in the neighboring towns of al-Bureij and al-Nusseirat, eight additional people lost their lives, according to health officials.

An Israeli attack on Khan Younis, which is located in southern Gaza, resulted in the deaths of 23 Palestinians, raising the total number of Palestinians who died overnight to more than 100.

In a Christmas speech, Pope Francis referred to children who are dying as the “little Jesuses of today.” He stated that Israeli attacks were resulting in an “appalling harvest” of innocent people. This statement was made about the conflict in Gaza.

The Israeli army stated that it was evaluating the report of an event that occurred in Maghazi and that it was dedicated to minimizing the amount of harm that was caused to civilians. Israel asserts that Hamas operates in regions with a high population density and employs people as human shields; Hamas, however, disputes these allegations.

CELEBRATIONS IN BETHLEHEM HAVE BEEN CANCELLED

Bethlehem, a city in the West Bank controlled by Israel and where Christian tradition asserts that Jesus was born in a stable two thousand years ago, had its celebrations called off by the clergy of the Christian faith.

Palestinian Christians held a Christmas vigil in Bethlehem, including hymns and prayers for peace in Gaza. The vigil was lit with candles.

There was no vast tree, often the focal point of Bethlehem’s Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. The placement of nativity figurines in churches amidst the debris and barbed wire present was a show of sympathy for the people of Gaza.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two smaller terrorist organizations that are both dedicated to the destruction of Israel, are believed to be holding more than one hundred hostages in Gaza. These groups are said to have abducted 240 prisoners during their rampage through Israeli cities on October 7, during which they managed to murder 1,200 people.

Since then, Israel has thrown away a significant portion of the thin strip. The authorities in Gaza, which Hamas runs, have reported that there have been about 20,700 deaths in Gaza, including 250 deaths in the past twenty-four hours.

The great majority of Gaza’s population, which is estimated to be more than 2.3 million people, has been forced to flee their homes, and the United Nations has stated that the humanitarian situation is grave.

The Israeli military said on Monday that two of its troops had passed away in the previous day, increasing the total number of soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of combat operations on October 20 to 158.

Three different security sources have independently reported that an Israeli bombing that took place on Monday outside of Damascus, the capital of Syria, resulted in the death of a top adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

According to the people who spoke with Reuters, the adviser, who goes by the name Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was in charge of managing the military alliance between Syria and Iran, which provides support to Hamas in Gaza.

According to a statement that was broadcast on Iranian official television, the Revolutionary Guards of Iran declared that Israel “will pay for this crime.”

Israel’s military chief of staff announced on Saturday that his troops had mainly secured operational control in the northern part of Gaza and that they would push their operations as far as they could in the southern part of the territory.

However, locals claim that the violence has only become more intense in the northern areas.

There has been very little public progress made as a result of diplomatic efforts led by Egypt and Qatar to negotiate a fresh ceasefire to liberate the remaining hostages who are being held in Gaza.

An Egyptian proposal to transfer authority in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a lasting truce was offered during discussions in Cairo. According to two Egyptian security officials who spoke to Reuters on Monday, Hamas and the affiliated Islamic Jihad have expressed their refusal to accept the idea.

The terrorist organizations have stated that they are not prepared to negotiate any release of captives unless Israel ceases its assault in Gaza. On the other hand, the Israelis have stated that they are only willing to discuss a halt to the continuing combat.