The attack is one of the deadliest of the nearly three-month-long war
Published: 25 Dec 2023 - 11:17 am | Last Updated: 25 Dec 2023 - 09:22 pm
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis during Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023. (Photo by Said Khatib / AFP)
Doha, Qatar: According to early hospital figures, atleast 68 people in Gaza, including 12 women and 7 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza.
Associated Press reported that its journalists at a nearby hospital watched frantic Palestinians carry the dead, including a baby, and wounded following the strike on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah. One bloodied young girl looked stunned while her body was checked for broken bones.
"We were all targeted,” said Ahmad Turkomani, who lost several family members including his daughter and grandson. "There is no safe place in Gaza anyway.”
The war has devastated almost all parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,700 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
Watch this page for more live updates:
[9:20pm Doha Time] Fifth batch of wounded Palestinians from Gaza Strip arrives in Doha for treatment
A Qatari plane carrying the fifth batch of wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip arrived in Doha on Monday. Read more.
[7:30pm Doha Time]
Liverpool football star Mohamed Salah said he "shares the pain” of grieving families at Christmas amid the deadly Israeli aggression being inflicted on the Gaza Strip.
On X (formerly Twitter), the Egyptian internation said that "Christmas is a time when families get together and celebrate.
"With the brutal war going on in the Middle East, especially the death and destruction in Gaza, this year we get to Christmas with very heavy hearts and we share the pain of those families who are grieving the loss of their loved ones."
"Please do not forget them and do not get used to their suffering. Merry Christmas.”
Christmas is a time when families get together and celebrate. With the brutal war going on in the Middle East, especially the death and destruction in Gaza, this year we get to Christmas with very heavy hearts and we share the pain of those families who are grieving the loss of… pic.twitter.com/NqynT2LsST
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) December 25, 2023
Salah's tweet has reached 20 million people according to X analytics, with over 150,000 likes and 58,000 reposts.
[3:50pm Doha Time] Pope calls for end to ‘appalling harvest’ of civilians in Gaza
In his Christmas Day address, Pope Francis addressing thousands of people from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, pleaded for an end to Israel’s “appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims” in Gaza as he called for a solution to “the desperate humanitarian situation” in the besieged enclave.
He also criticised the armaments industry, which he said was motivated by profit and ultimately controlled the “puppet strings of war”.
[3:15pm Doha Time] Desperation rising amid acute hunger at Gaza hospitals:WHO
The World Health Organization said it led missions to barely functioning hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend, describing growing desperation and starving people stripping an aid truck of supplies.
The UN health agency and its partners delivered aid, including fuel, to the devastated Al-Shifa hospital, once Gaza's biggest and most advanced medical facility, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter.
What the participants in the December 23 mission witnessed was "rising desperation due to acute hunger," Tedros said. Read more
[12:45pm Doha Time] Israeli attacks small local business in Jabalia
Al Jazeera reported that in the last couple of hours, there were attacks on Jabalia in northern Gaza that targeted small local businesses.
There are confirmed reports of attack on a warehouse which accommodates trucks and mechanic tools used for local businesses in the area.
[12:20pm Doha Time] Australia skipper Cummins backs Khawaja on Gaza views
Australia captain Pat Cummins threw his support behind star opener Usman Khawaja Monday, saying his bid to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was "not offensive".
Khawaja has been denied permission by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the second Test against Pakistan. Read more
[11am Doha Time] Homes raided in Jenin refugee camp
Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli army came down to the Jenin refugee camp and raided at least 10 houses. They said they were looking for Palestinians to arrest but they left without making any arrests.
Israeli forces did call for Palestinian fighters to come out and give themselves up but that didn’t happen either.
Residents complained that this was a campaign to harass them. Jenin refugee camp is now the most raided camp in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli forces are destroying any symbol of resistance or nationalism in the camp.
[10:30am Doha Time] Israeli air raids hit Aita al-Shaab, Lebanon
Israel carried out an air strike on the south of the town of Mays al-Jabal, south of Lebanon, targeting an agricultural area. No casualties reported.
The attacks on towns and villages in southern Lebanon continued on Monday as drones launched successive raids on the vicinity of the town of Aita al-Shaab and Tallet al-Raheb.
The National News Agency reported that the Israeli entity targeted last night the outskirts of the towns of Ramiya, Marwahin, and Al-Dhahira with successive raids carried out by drones, launching a number of direct missiles.
At dawn, Israeli warplanes flew over the Naqoura and Shama Majdal Zone areas, at a time when the Israeli bombing was targeting Mount Labouneh.
Black smoke billowing across the horizon along the hills in the southern Lebanese village of Meiss El-Jabal following Israeli bombardment on December 25, 2023. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
[10am Doha Time] Surge in infectious diseases as water supplies, sanitation collapse in Gaza
The UN says nearly two million people in Gaza are facing severe food and water shortages.
It is estimated that 96 percent of the available water supply is unfit for human consumption. Israeli forces have bombed wells and desalination plants in north Gaza.
