PALESTINE – Israeli forces on Monday carried out shelling and gunfire, with blasts detonating buildings in the areas they control in Gaza Strip, in another violation of ceasefire.
Israeli forces detonated residential buildings in western Rafah, an area fully under their control under the ceasefire terms, and opened fire east of the city, local sources said.
The army carried out artillery and helicopter attacks east of Khan Younis, also within zones under its control.
Israel has committed hundreds of ceasefire violations, killing 373 Palestinians and injuring 970 others, according to the Gaza media office.
Israeli Police Raid UNRWA Headquarters
Israeli police on Monday stormed the sealed headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
The compound had served as an UNRWA office since 1951, but the agency vacated it earlier this year following an Israeli government decision. Tel Aviv banned UNRWA’s operations in Jerusalem under a law passed by the Knesset (parliament).
The Jerusalem Governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said police forces raided the headquarters, detained security guards, and confiscated their phones.
“Israeli police cut off communication, making it impossible to know what is happening inside the compound,” it added in a statement.
The raid occurred “alongside a complete closure of the surrounding area and extensive searches carried out by the occupation forces across all facilities of the building,” the statement said.
“This raid represents a direct challenge to the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote days ago to renew UNRWA’s mandate,” the governorate said.
It called for urgent international action to hold Israel accountable “for violating international law,” and to prosecute Israeli leaders “for crimes and abuses committed against the Palestinian people and their national and international institutions.”
There was no immediate comment from Israeli police or UNRWA on the raid.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to renew the UNRWA mandate for three years.
The resolution was backed by 151 votes against 10, and 14 abstentions.
UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.
The UN agency has been facing severe financial difficulties since Israel launched a defamation campaign against UNRWA, claiming that staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Despite UNRWA’s requests that the Israeli government provide information and evidence to back up the complainant, the agency has received no response. Following Israel’s accusations, several key donor nations, including the US, suspended or paused funding.
Israel Claims 22,000 Soldiers Wounded Since Oct. 2023
The Israeli Defense Ministry said Monday that it has treated nearly 22,000 wounded soldiers since the Gaza war in October 2023.
About 22,000 injured soldiers were added to the Rehabilitation Department’s treatment program, with nearly 58% of them suffering from mental health conditions, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry noted that nearly 1,500 new treatment requests are submitted by wounded soldiers each month.
According to the ministry, the Rehabilitation Department currently provides care for 82,400 wounded veterans, including those injured in previous wars.
It further stated that 26% of all patients in the department were wounded in the past two years.
According to Israeli military data published in October, the army recorded 279 suicide attempts among personnel over 18 months, including 36 deaths.
Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in Gaza since October 2023.
During the same period, Israel launched air assaults against Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Syria.
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