DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli strikes killed at least nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight. One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has been waging a major operation since early October.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and that at least a dozen other people were wounded. Another strike overnight into Wednesday in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. About 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not say how many of those killed were militants.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. It says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands are living in tents on the coast as winter brings frequent rainstorms and temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) at night. At least four infants have died of hypothermia. American and Arab mediators have spent nearly a year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release, but those efforts have repeatedly stalled as Hamas demands a lasting ceasefire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu vows to keep fighting until “total victory” over the militants.