New Year Gazans face double whammy of Israeli airstrikes and flooding

New Year: Gazans face double whammy of Israeli airstrikes and flooding

TEHRAN- Forcibly displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip commenced the New Year amidst continuous Israeli airstrikes, while winter rains have inundated their temporary shelters, exacerbating their hardships.

According to the Wafa news agency, Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s northern town of Jabalia killed more than a dozen people in the first day of the New Year. It said most of the victims were children. Israel also carried out deadly strikes in other parts of the enclave including in the central Bureij refugee camp.

Amid Israeli strikes, cold and rainy weather have worsened the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said floodwaters rose to more than 30cm in makeshift tents in Gaza. It said floodwaters have left displaced Palestinians exposed to the cold and inflicted damage on their belongings.

The tents in areas including northern Gaza City, southern Khan Younis, and in central Deir el-Balah have been rendered unusable because of the flooding.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza are crammed into unsuitable tents, as the territory’s 2.3 million population endures severe shortages of drinkable water, food and medicines.

Hypothermia kills babies 

At least six babies across the Gaza Strip have died from hypothermia in just a week of cold weather enveloping the territory.  

The Gaza Media Office said in a statement on Monday that Ali al-Batran, an infant displaced by Israeli attacks and living in a tent, died from severe cold and lack of heating, the statement said.

According to the statement, his twin, Jumaa al-Batran, who was in critical condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, also died from intense cold on Sunday.

Infants are at an increased risk of hypothermia due to their bodies losing heat more quickly than those of adults. This risk is exacerbated by severe malnutrition, which affects many Palestinians who experience acute hunger as a result of Israeli restrictions on food supplies entering Gaza.
 

Solidarity with Gaza 

Turkish people began the New Year as they rallied to express solidarity with the people in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of people in Istanbul staged a mass protest to denounce Israel’s relentless and devastating war on the Gaza Strip. The rally was organized by a coalition consisting of more than 300 civil organizations. 

Butchering babies: Several infants have frozen to death in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks. 

Hundreds of people also staged a rally in Sweden’s snow-covered capital calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza. 

Carrying Palestinian flags, the demonstrators said Israel’s genocide in Gaza must immediately end. 

Israel began its war of genocide on Gaza shortly after Hamas carried out a surprise military attack dubbed Al-Aqsa Storm Operation in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.  More than 1,100 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the operation and about 250 others were taken captive. Dozens of the captives still remain in Gaza. 

Israel has slaughtered more than 45,500 Palestinians in Gaza since October last year. Most of the victims are women and children. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently vowed to continue the war until eliminating Hamas and securing the release of the remaining captives. But he has so far failed to fulfill his promises. 
Israel’s continued war on Gaza has taken a heavy toll on its troops. 

According to the Israeli army, 825 Israeli troops have been killed since the onset of the Gaza conflict nearly 15 months ago.

Resistance fighters still continue to deal heavy blows to the Israeli army. 

Two US-based defense think tanks monitoring the war in Gaza said Palestinian fighters in Jabalia launched a large “multi-wave” attack against Israeli troops on Monday. 

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said the attack involved units of between six and 30 Palestinian fighters. They described the raid as “noteworthy” and said it was significantly larger than most operations in the Gaza Strip in recent months. 

The think tanks said in a statement that  Palestinian resistance fighters also attacked the Israeli army on Tuesday using “explosively formed penetrators, rocket-propelled grenades and other high-powered improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”.

Swedes rallied in Stockholm on New Year’s Eve calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.  [Atila Altuntas/Anadolu]
 

The statement also said Palestinian fighters launched two rockets into southern Israel late on Tuesday.

Israel has failed to stop Hamas attacks but Netanyahu is derailing talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire with the resistance group. 

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas have “hit an impasse in recent days”.

Citing “Arab mediators”, the WSJ said the two sides were considering a two-month ceasefire during which up to 30 Israeli captives held in Gaza would have been released.

In exchange, Israel was to release Palestinian prisoners and allow greater humanitarian aid into Gaza.

 “Mediators said Israel insisted that it receive only living hostages in any exchange and refused to approve the release of some of the Palestinian detainees sought by Hamas,” the WSJ said.

Amid Israel’s failure to deter Hamas, frequent attacks carried by the Yemeni army have become a thorn in the side of the Netanyahu regime.

Shortly after Israel launched war in Gaza, Yemen’s Ansarullah began hitting military targets in Israel. The movement has recently stepped up attacks against Israeli targets. The strikes have triggered sirens in Israeli cities, sending millions of people to shelters. 

The plight and suffering of Palestinians have gained increased attention with the onset of the New Year as the US and some of its Western allies continue to provide Israel with unwavering military support. 

But stiff resistance put up by Palestinians along with the ongoing Ansarullah attacks, which are conducted in solidarity with Gazans, will continue to haunt Israeli leaders. 

source: tehrantimes.com