Israel Launches Attacks in Gaza Strip, Raids West Bank
PALESTINE – Israeli forces on Wednesday Dec. 17, carried out attacks in several areas in Gaza Strip, in continuous violation of ceasefire.
According to witnesses, Israeli artillery shelled southeastern Khan Younis and the vicinity of the Morag corridor, north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
In central Gaza, Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers moved into northeast of Deir al-Balah city and conducted bulldozing operations amid intense gunfire in the area.
Israeli artillery also shelled the eastern parts of the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City.
As of reporting this, there were no immediate casualties.
Israeli Forces Raid West Bank
The Israeli army raided the northern city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, launching a large-scale arrest campaign, according to local sources.
Witnesses said that special Israeli forces, backed by military reinforcements, stormed the eastern neighborhood of Jenin city at dawn, and turned a house into a military outpost.
Several civilians were detained and held for field interrogation.
Following the raid, the Palestinian Education Ministry suspended schools in Jenin to maintain the safety of students.
In the central West Bank, illegal Israeli settlers burned two vehicles belonging to Palestinians in Ramallah and painted racist slogans on the walls of homes, local sources said.
The Israeli army has escalated its attacks in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
Israel has killed nearly 70,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 171,000 in Gaza since October 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
6 Rescued After Roof Collapse in Gaza
6 Palestinians, including two children, were pulled alive on Wednesday from under a roof that collapsed due to heavy storms in the northern Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense said.
The agency said in a statement that the upper roof of a three-floor building collapsed in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, amid a low-pressure weather system that struck the enclave since Monday.
The rescued civilians are in good health, the statement added.
A new weather depression has been affecting the Gaza Strip since Monday, accompanied by heavy rainfall, strong winds, and storms.
Weather conditions pose great danger to displaced Palestinians who are living in worn-out tents or severely damaged high-risk buildings, which have been under repeated Israeli strikes since October 2023.
According to the Civil Defense, at least 17 residential buildings have completely collapsed, and over 90 others sustained partial collapses since the current wave of bad weather conditions started in Gaza.
Nearly 90% of shelter centers across the enclave have been completely flooded, and all tents for displaced Palestinians have been damaged and flooded, leaving thousands of families without shelters, clothes, mattresses, and blankets, the organization said.
At least 17 people, including four children, were killed as a result of harsh weather conditions since last week.
The Civil Defense called on the international community to immediately act to meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza, launch reconstruction efforts, and provide safe housing.
“The current weather conditions have exposed the fragility of the living conditions imposed on the population, especially the displaced who live in dilapidated tents and primitive shelters,” Ismail Thawabteh, the director of the Gaza Government Media Office, said.
He said that these tents and temporary shelter centers “lack the minimum standards of human safety, in light of the continued closure of the crossings and the prevention of the entry of shelter and emergency materials.”
