Deadly Israeli air strikes target UN school, homes in Gaza

US presses Israel on civilian deaths, move to ‘lower intensity’ war in Gaza

FE Team | Published: December 15, 2023 23:52:20

GAZA, Dec 15 (Agencies): Al Jazeera reported on Friday that at least 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on a UN school in Khan Younis and homes in southern Gaza.
The Palestinian telecommunications firms further reported that Gaza was under another communications blackout due to Israeli attacks. The besieged enclave's media office reported that the blackout was hampering the rescue efforts even more.
To add to this bleak picture was Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud's report that intense firing could be heard in the eastern part of Rafah, where millions of displaced Gazans were repeatedly ordered to move to for 'safety'.
As per the latest casualty figures at least 18,787 people have been killed in Gaza, whereas a staggering 50,897 are injured. Furthermore, Israeli violence has claimed the lives of 289 Palestinians residing in Occupied West Bank, and injured 3,365.
The total number of Israelis killed in the October 7 Hamas attack stands at 1,200, after being revised down from 1,400. Around 8,730 Israelis are said to be wounded. According to the Israeli army, at least 448 of its soldiers have so far been killed in the retaliatory operation that it launched in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.
Reuters said on Friday that witnesses informed of Israeli forces and Hamas engaging in fierce battles throughout Gaza, suggesting Israel's ground offensive was meeting stiffer resistance as the US nudged its ally to change a strategy that has inflicted a huge civilian death toll.
Residents in the small enclave reported fighting in Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoun in north Gaza, east of Maghazi in central Gaza and in the centre and northern fringes of the main southern city of Khan Younis.
Hospitals in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah reported a new influx of dead and wounded early on Friday including two children. Four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah and Israeli tanks were shelling targets just east of the city near the Egyptian border, medics and witnesses said.
The Israeli military said in an update on Friday its forces had destroyed a Hamas command and control hub in Gaza City's heavily contested Sheijaia district and conducted a "targeted raid" on militant infrastructure in Khan Younis.
The heavy fighting, confirmed by many residents and militant sources reached by Reuters, raised questions about whether Israel's two-month-long aerial and ground blitz of Gaza had significantly weakened Hamas, which it has vowed to annihilate.
Meanwhile, the United States has ramped up pressure on Israel to minimise civilian deaths in Gaza as Washington presses its ally to shift to a “lower intensity” war against Hamas.
Speaking to reporters as his top national security adviser visited Israel on Thursday, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to take greater care to protect civilians.
“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives. Not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” Biden told reporters when asked whether Israel should scale back its military campaign in Gaza.
Biden’s comments came as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli war cabinet to discuss conditions for transitioning to more targeted military operations in Gaza.
Turkey strongly condemns Israeli raid on Jenin, calls for accountability
Turkey strongly condemns "provocations" by Israeli forces during raids on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and the desecration of a mosque there, Turkey's foreign ministry said, calling for those responsible to be punished.
Israeli troops killed a youth at a hospital and read out Jewish prayers at a mosque in Jenin during the raids that Palestinian authorities said killed 12 and that Israel said helped capture dozens of militants.
"We strongly condemn the provocations of Israeli soldiers who stormed the Jenin Refugee Camp, and disrespected sanctity of a place of worship by entering the mosque," Spokesman Oncu Keceli said on social messaging platform X late on Thursday.