The Israeli army continued its offensive on the coastal region, killing hundreds and wounding many more in several parts of the Gaza Strip after attacking homes, buildings, and hospitals with missiles, shells, and armored bulldozers.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured when the army fired missiles at a home in the Al-Jneina neighborhood in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Medics and Civil Defense teams rushed to the bombarded home owned by the Abu Anza family and evacuated the dead and the wounded to a hospital.
In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, at least five Palestinians were killed, and dozens injured after the army fired a missile at a home in the city; the army also fired flares in the area and many shells at areas around the Islamic University in Khan Younis.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Israeli missiles also targeted ambulances, killing four of its medics in several parts of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army, the navy, and the Air Force fired missiles and shells at dozens of homes and medical centers in the Nusseirat and the Sheja’eyya areas and other parts of Gaza City, in addition to Rafah and Khan Younis, leading to hundreds of casualties.
In the Nusseirat refugee camp, the army fired missiles and shells at a residential bloc near the Da’wa Mosque, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians, mainly women and children.
Medics and rescue teams were unable to reach due to destroyed streets and the extensive Israeli bombings.
Israeli missiles and artillery shells also targeted homes and buildings in the Sheja’eyya and the Zeitoun neighborhoods, east of Gaza City, causing dozens of casualties.
In northern Gaza, Israeli tanks invaded the yards of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia and destroyed tents used by Palestinians who fled their homes and tents used to treat patients and the wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Palestine TV said dozens of patients and Palestinians who fled their homes were killed, including many crushed to death by the Israeli bulldozers and tanks and many buried alive under the rubble.
The Health Ministry said many Palestinians were buried under the rubble and that the army fired at any Palestinians in the hospital yard, adding that the current situation there remains unclear after all communications with the medical facility have been cut off.
It added that the doctors had to do amputations on seriously wounded Palestinians without anesthesia after running out of all supplies.
Dr. Mai Al-Kaila, the Palestinian Minister of Health, said the army is forcing the patients out in the cold and attacking many health workers, posing serious threats to their lives, in addition to destroying the southern ward of the medical facility.
Dr. Al-Kaila added that, according to testimony from medical staff, twelve premature babies remained in incubators at the medical facility without nutrition after the army refused to allow their evacuation and called for an international investigation of Israel’s ongoing war crimes.
In a statement, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem on December 16 said that an Israeli army sniper murdered two Christian women inside Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families had taken refuge. Seven other people were shot and injured as they tried to protect others in the compound. Israeli forces also bombed another convent, home to 54 disabled people.
The Latin Patriarchate added that an Israeli tank also targeted the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa, home for 54 disabled persons, and is part of the Church compound. Read the Full Statement Here. (Available in Arabic, English, French, and Italian)
In related news, the Israeli army killed three Israelis, among many who are held in Gaza, after believing they were Palestinians, although they raised a white flag, Al-Jazeera English said.
Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Army Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi claiming responsibility for the army’s killing of three Israeli hostages who waved a makeshift white flag. The statement in itself implies that Israeli soldiers open fire on civilians, or even fighters, raising white flags and surrendering to the army.
Israeli missiles and shells have killed more than 18800 Palestinians and injured at least 51000, mostly children and women, in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
At least 8000 Palestinians, largely women and children, remain buried and missing in debris of the constant Israeli shelling and bombings across the Gaza Strip.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have killed 289 Palestinians since October 7; the Israeli army injured 3450 Palestinians, and the illegal paramilitary colonizers injured 84.
