{"id":250787,"date":"2023-12-18T12:02:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T12:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=250787"},"modified":"2023-12-18T07:17:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T07:17:02","slug":"operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-72-israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-in-church-unrwa-warns-of-mass-flight-to-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/12\/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-72-israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-in-church-unrwa-warns-of-mass-flight-to-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Operation Al-Aqsa Flood\u2019 Day 72: Israeli Forces Kill Palestinians in Church, UNRWA Warns of Mass Flight to Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_250788\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gaza-israel-palestine-genocide9-1.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-250788\" class=\"wp-image-250788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gaza-israel-palestine-genocide9-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gaza-israel-palestine-genocide9-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gaza-israel-palestine-genocide9-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gaza-israel-palestine-genocide9-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-250788\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">First responders and civilians look for survivors amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 14 Dec 2023<br \/>(Photo: Bashar Taleb\/APA Images)<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p>17 Dec 2023 &#8211; <em>Israel\u2019s Netanyahu vows to continue war \u201cuntil victory\u201d as Western leaders call for ceasefire. In the West Bank, Israeli forces have killed nine Palestinians in the past 24 hours.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Casualties<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>18,800+ killed* and more than 51,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip.<\/li>\n<li>297 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem<\/li>\n<li>Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.<\/li>\n<li>450 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 1,682 injured.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>*<em>This figure was confirmed by Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health on December 16. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has not been able to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 20,000.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Developments<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Israeli tanks and snipers surround Holy Family catholic church in north Gaza, fire at Palestinians, killing mother and daughter sheltering inside.<\/li>\n<li>Israeli forces bomb YMCA in Gaza, which shelters 300 displaced people, injuring and killing several Palestinians.<\/li>\n<li>Israeli PM Netanyahu vows to continue \u201cwar until victory, despite international pressure,\u201d takes pride in preventing a Palestinian state.<\/li>\n<li>Palestinian women and children make up 70 percent of causalities in Gaza Strip, thousands remain missing under rubble.<\/li>\n<li>UNRWA director says Israel\u2019s bombardment created a reality on the ground \u201cwhich in fact will push more and more Palestinians out of Gaza.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>PA Ministry of Health says Israel killed 505 Palestinians in occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since January, 111 of them children.<\/li>\n<li>PA <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86550\" >Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners\u2019 Affairs<\/a> says female prisoners from Gaza detained at Damoun Prison face daily punishment, including beating and strip searches.<\/li>\n<li>Israeli drone missiles bomb Mahmoud Samer Jaber\u2019s house and Al-Manshiya neighborhood in Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Israeli forces kill two Palestinians inside Catholic church in Gaza<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Israeli forces killed two Palestinians with sniper bullets on Saturday in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood and injured seven others while they were sheltering inside the Holy Family church in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli tanks surrounded the catholic parish and fired at Palestinians who moved inside its courtyard, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86493\" >Wafa<\/a> news agency reported. Israeli fire killed Nahida Khalil Boulos Anton and her daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, inside the church\u2019s compound, where 600 displaced people, most of them Palestinian Christians, were sheltering from the Israeli bombardment.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli forces are aiming to evict Palestinians from the Holy Family parish, and on Sunday, it bombed the Young Men\u2019s Christian Association (YMCA) in Gaza, which shelters 300 displaced people, injuring and killing several Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbcew.org.uk\/cardinal-vincent-nichols-statement-on-holy-family-parish-in-gaza\/\" >Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem<\/a> condemned the attack on the Catholic church. \u201cNahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the Sister\u2019s Convent,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cOne was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety. Seven more people were shot and wounded as they tried to protect others inside the church compound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo warning was given, no notification was provided. They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>The Patriarchate said that an Israeli missile damaged the convent\u2019s electric generator and fuel tank, where 54 disabled persons are sheltering.<\/p>\n<p>The incident drew wide condemnation and was described as a \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/catholicherald.co.uk\/senseless-attacks-in-gaza-christians-shot-and-killed-at-holy-family-church-and-missionaries-of-charity-targeted-by-tanks\/\" >senseless attack<\/a>.\u201d On October 19, Israeli forces bombed the Greek Orthodox Church in the center of Gaza City, which housed hundreds of Palestinians, killing 18 people.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Israel\u2019s Netanyahu proud of blocking Palestinian state<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>At least 19,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel\u2019s aggression on the Gaza Strip began in October. Although some Western leaders are now calling for a \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/we-need-a-sustainable-ceasefire-in-gaza-says-david-cameron-fxbt3s7kp\" >sustainable ceasefire<\/a>\u201d in Gaza, Israel\u2019s war cabinet ministers appear to be adamant about continuing to batter the Gaza Strip, depicting their military campaign as the \u201csecond war of independence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/netanyahu\/status\/1736139333378142706\" >Saturday<\/a> in a televised speech that \u201cthis war we must continue until victory, despite the international pressures and despite the unbearably heavy price that the war exacts from us in the fall of our dear sons and daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Up until Sunday morning, 450 Israeli soldiers were killed, the majority of them during combat and armed clashes with Palestinian fighters, since October 7. Palestinian resistance factions are still holding 130 Israelis captive.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli army\u2019s accidentally shooting and killing of three Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip has caused an immense embarrassment to the government and to Netanyahu, who said that he was \u201cshocked\u201d upon hearing the news.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were just a step away from freedom, they really touched redemption and that\u2019s when the disaster happened. It broke my heart. It broke the whole nation\u2019s heart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu also added, \u201cI am very proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His political career is at stake as his <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/as-netanyahus-popularity-wanes-likud-mk-danny-danon-prepares-to-mount-challenge\/\" >Likud Party<\/a>\u2019s popularity plummeted, and protests calling for his resignation returned to the streets of Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Gaza, women and children make up 70 percent of causalities<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Palestinian Authority\u2019s (PA) Ministry of Health said on Saturday evening that 18,800 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and almost 51,000 injured since October 7. Women and children make up 70 percent of the causalities, while thousands remain missing under the rubble.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry added that 11 medical facilities out of a total 36 facilities were operating in the Gaza Strip. Three of those operational facilities are in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86533\" >Wafa<\/a> reported on Sunday morning that Israeli air raids on houses in Jabalia killed at least 35 people.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s bombing of the Shihab family in Jabalia killed 24 people and injured 90 others. Another bombing of the Khalla family house in the town left 11 people dead. Palestinian rescue teams retrieved 23 bodies of martyrs buried in the rubble, following an Israeli bombing of the Al-Nazla area in Jabalia.<\/p>\n<p>In Gaza\u2019s Old City, an air strike killed 20 people, while Israeli forces remain stationed in Palestine Square in the middle of the city, close to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and the Great Omari Mosque, both of which were targeted throughout the war.<\/p>\n<p>In Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, Israeli shelling and drone attacks killed nine members of the Al-Amarin and Hamouda families in southeast Gaza City.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli forces also bombed the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Tel Al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan, and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. Palestinians buried 20 members of the Salem family in a makeshift cemetery after an Israeli F-16 bombed and flattened their four-story house in Gaza City, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86539\" >Wafa<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>In Beit Lahia, it bombed the house of the Al-Barawi family, killing two people and injuring dozens.<\/p>\n<p>In the south of Gaza, Israeli forces bombed and raided the towns of Khuzaa, Al-Qarara, Sheikh Nasser, and the Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area, and launched four air raids on Yebna refugee camp, near Rafah on the border with Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s warplanes also bombed Dier Al-Balah camp in central Gaza, killing 12 people and wounding dozens. In Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, Israel\u2019s artillery shelled the courtyard of Nasser Hospital, wounding two Palestinians on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>UN official: \u2018The temptation to flee this hell on Earth is very strong\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Philippe Lazzarini, the director-general of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said that there are more than one million Palestinians in Rafah, a town that was home to almost 200,000 people before October 7.<\/p>\n<p>UNRWA is also seeing a \u201cskyrocketing increase\u201d in diarrhea and the emergence of Hepatitis liver infection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of skin disease also, due to the appalling hygiene conditions, and many people have not been able to change their clothes for weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Lazzarini warned during an interview with <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/world\/middle-east\/2023\/12\/philippe-lazzarini-gaza-hunger-starvation?utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1702670072\" ><em>The New Statesman<\/em><\/a> that aid agencies are racing against the clock as Israel continues to block sufficient medical and humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more we wait the more people will die, not just because of the military bombardment but also because of the impact of the siege. That is a race against the clock,\u201d Lazzarini said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that Israel\u2019s bombardment created a reality on the ground \u201cwhich in fact will push more and more Palestinians out of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He explained that the Palestinian middle class \u201cmay want to give their children a future. We have already seen that people are not allowed to return to the north and are constantly pushed further south.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe temptation to flee this hell on Earth is very strong,\u201d he said. \u201cA tipping point might be reached and people will try their chances. It may not be a deliberate policy, but you have a reality on the ground being created.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide protested in solidarity with Palestine\u2019s Gaza Strip and to call for a ceasefire. In the US cities of Chicago, New York, Los Angelos and Huston, among others, protestors called the US administration to stop arming Israel and push for an immediate halt to Israel\u2019s bombing of Gaza.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Israeli forces kill nine Palestinians in 24 hours in West Bank<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The PA\u2019s Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that 505 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since January, 111 of them are children.<\/p>\n<p>However, since October 7, the Israeli occupation has killed 297 Palestinians, 70 of whom are children.<\/p>\n<p>Until Sunday morning, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and injured dozens in Nablus, Tulkarem, and Hebron.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli forces launched a heavy military raid of the town of Tulkarem and Nour Shams refugee camp, killing five Palestinians, identified as Jihad Hatem Amarneh, 23, Walid Abdel Razzaq Asaad Zahra, 22, Asaad Fathi Asaad Zahra, 33, Mahmoud Samer Jaber, 22, and Ghaith Yasser Shehadeh, 25.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86537\" >Wafa<\/a> reported that Israeli forces bombed Nour Shams camp in the early hours of Sunday and turned the area into a military zone, blocking ambulances from entering the camp.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli drone missiles bombed the house of Mahmoud Samer Jaber and the Al-Manshiya neighborhood in Nour Shams camp. Israeli forces also raided several houses and detained tens of people while stationing snipers at houses roofs belonging to Al-Batta and Al-Saida families in the camp.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed Aziz Abd al-Rahim Aziz Ekhailil, 20, with bullets in the abdomen in the town of Beit Ummar, south of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>In Deir Ammar refugee camp, west of Ramallah, Israeli forces killed the 16-year-old Atallah Ziad Badha with live bullets when clashes broke out on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<p>Three Palestinians were injured in the abdomen, chest, and foot, when Israeli forces raided the camp, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86513\" >Wafa<\/a> reported. Israeli forces also arrested tens of Palestinians overnight from the towns of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86529\" >Nablus<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86530\" >Al-Aroub<\/a> refugee camp in Hebron, and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86531\" >Al-Jalazoun<\/a> camp in Ramallah.<\/p>\n<p>The PA\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86550\" >Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners\u2019 Affairs<\/a> said on Sunday that female prisoners from the Gaza Strip detained at Damoun Prison are facing harsh repression, including beatings and strip searches, on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission recorded the case of an 80-year-old woman from Gaza who was detained by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[She] was walking on a crutch and without a cover on her head. Her body and clothes were full of blood and she did not know anything. It seemed that she was suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d her lawyer told The Commission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll female prisoners from Gaza Strip arrived at the prison in a deplorable condition, in all respects, health, physical and psychological,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wafa.ps\/Pages\/Details\/86550\" >The Commission<\/a> report added.<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Mustafa Abu Sneineh is a journalist, poet and writer from the city of Al-Quds in Occupied Palestine. His first poetry book <\/em>A Black Cloud at the End of the Line<em> was published in Arabic in 2016. He writes for both English and Arabic publications.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mondoweiss.net\/2023\/12\/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-72-israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-in-church-unrwa-warns-of-mass-flight-to-egypt\/\" >Go to Original &#8211; mondoweiss.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 7 Oct to 17 Dec 2023:<br \/>\n&#8211; 18,800+ killed and more than 51,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip<br \/>\n&#8211; 297 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem<br \/>\n&#8211; Israel revises its estimated 7 Oct death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147<br \/>\n&#8211; 450 Israeli soldiers killed since 7 Oct, and at least 1,682 injured<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":250788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1559,2898,1199,87,865,1029,1049,88,2416,715,427,481],"class_list":["post-250787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-collective-punishment","tag-ecocide","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-hamas","tag-inhuman-punishment","tag-israel","tag-israeli-occupation","tag-massacre","tag-palestine","tag-warfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250790,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250787\/revisions\/250790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}