At a funeral in Gaza on Monday, Palestinians waited in line to touch the white sheets wrapped in the bodies of at least 70 people, who Palestinian health authorities say were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza refugee camp in the heart of the enclave.
The funeral followed one of the deadliest nights in the 11-week war between Israel and Hamas.
Ibrahim Yusef told Reuters that his wife and four children, including a four-month-old baby, were buried in the rubble after an airstrike hit the house where they were staying in the refugee camp.
He told the British agency that he was not at home when the attack happened. When he arrived he managed to save one son, but he could not reach the others. "What did they do wrong," he asked.
The attacks that started a few hours before midnight continued yesterday. Palestinian media reported that Israel has stepped up both aerial and ground shelling of central Gaza.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Kidra, said that among the victims in Magaza were a large number of women and children. Eight people were killed in attacks by Israeli planes and tanks on houses and roads in other parts of the enclave, while 23 people were killed in airstrikes on Khan Younis, as a result of which the tragic balance of Palestinians exceeded 100.
The Israeli military said it was investigating reports of the Magazi incident and was committed to minimizing civilian casualties. Hamas has rejected accusations that Israel is operating in densely populated areas or using civilians as human shields.
The Palestinian Red Crescent released footage of injured residents being transported to hospitals. Israeli planes are said to be bombing major roads, blocking the passage of ambulances and ambulances.
After the truce collapsed at the beginning of the month, the conflicts on the ground only intensified, and the war spread from the north to the entire densely populated belt.
The Israeli army announced yesterday that two of its soldiers were killed the previous day, bringing the total number of Israeli casualties since the start of the ground operation on October 20 to 158.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told MPs from his Likud party yesterday that the war is nowhere near over and rejected, as he stated, media speculations that his government could suspend the fight against the Islamists Hamas. He said that Israel will not succeed in freeing the remaining hostages in Gaza without military pressure.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad yesterday rejected Egypt's proposal to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, two Egyptian sources told Reuters.
Egypt has proposed a "vision" instead of a concrete plan, also supported by Qatari mediators, that would include a ceasefire in exchange for the release of more hostages, and lead to a broader deal that includes a permanent ceasefire with a reorganization of the leadership in Gaza, which is currently run by Hamas, he said. Reuters. Egypt proposed the elections while offering assurances to Hamas that its members would not be prosecuted or prosecuted, but the Islamic group refused any concessions other than the release of hostages, the sources said. More than 100 hostages are believed to be still being held in Gaza.
Izat al-Rishk, a member of the Hamas political committee, later denied in a statement what the sources said about the negotiations, adding: “There can be no negotiations without a complete halt to aggression. The leadership of Hamas is strongly committed to a complete and not a temporary end to the aggression and massacre of our people,” he said, referring to the more than 20.000 Palestinians who died during the 11-day war with Israel.
Pope: Children who die in wars are the little Jesuses of today
Pope Francis said yesterday in his Christmas message that children who die in wars, including in Gaza, are "little Jesuses of today" and that Israeli attacks represent a "terrible harvest" of innocent civilians.
In his annual address "Urbi et Orbi" (to the world and the city), Francis also called the Hamas attack on Israel "heinous" and again called for the release of about 100 hostages in Gaza.
The clergy canceled the religious holidays in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus is believed to have been born.
Instead of the usual manifestations, Palestinian Christians held a Christmas vigil in Bethlehem with prayers for peace.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a departure from his usual practice, did not attend the midnight vigil, sending a representative instead.
There was no large Christmas tree, the usual centerpiece of the festivities in Bethlehem. Nativity figures in churches were placed among the rubble and barbed wire in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
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