Israeli occupation army spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that his forces have expanded their military operations across the entire Gaza Strip.
He said: “The army is operating everywhere there are Hamas strongholds.”
For the fourth consecutive day since the end of the truce, the Gaza Strip has been living under bombardment carried out by the Israeli army, while the bombing has squeezed civilians who have taken refuge in a shrinking area in the south of the besieged Strip.
More than Half of Gaza’s Homes Destroyed
Hossam Khalifa, director of the loss-counting team at the Central Bureau of Statistics in the Gaza Strip, said that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has partially or completely destroyed 250,000 housing units out of 400,000, more than 50% of all homes in the Strip.
He added in statements to Palestine TV that 70% of the hospitals in the Strip have gone out of service, according to Palestine TV.
Mohammed Qalalwa, director of statistics at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics of the Palestinian National Authority, revealed that direct losses to the economy in the Gaza Strip reached about $700 million during the first month of the war.
Speaking to Voice of Palestine radio yesterday, Sunday, Qalalwa explained that about 147,000 private sector workers have been cut off from work, while 56,000 establishments have stopped operating.
Qalalwa expected the poverty rate in the Gaza Strip to rise to about 90%, with the unemployment rate rising to about 65%. He pointed out that inflation reached about 12% on goods and services. These statements come amid the difficult conditions endured by the Strip’s economy as a result of the Israeli attacks. Qalalwa said that economic losses in the Gaza Strip during the period of the siege since 2007 amounted to about $35 billion, not counting the effects of the current aggression.
Gaza’s Safe Zones “under Bombardment”
The British network Sky News said that aid is not reaching the safe zones in the besieged Gaza Strip.
A report by the network yesterday said that the “Al-Mawasi” area, which the occupation army declared one of the safe zones, has not received any aid so far, which adds to the hardship of the difficult conditions its residents endure, especially as Israeli air strikes do not stop.
The British network revealed that the areas in the south of the Gaza Strip to which the occupation called on Palestinians to flee are “not safe at all” because of the continued Israeli air bombardment.
The network quoted the Israeli ambassador in London, Tzipi Hotovely, as saying that “Al-Mawasi” is the designated safe zone.
A Sky News team visited the area three days ago to observe the conditions there and how it is being equipped to receive displaced people.
The report described the area as “a barren land of sand dunes on the Mediterranean coast”, lacking basic supplies such as food and medical aid as well as shelter tents.
“Al-Mawasi” lies south-east of Wadi Gaza and extends along the coast for 12 kilometres; its population is estimated at about 9,000.
The Dutch government faces a lawsuit today, Monday, filed by rights organisations accusing it of playing a role in exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to the Israeli occupation army, making it complicit in war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The case was filed by three human rights organisations, including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, before a district court in The Hague, arguing that exporting the fighter jet parts enables Israel to bomb the Gaza Strip.
The rights organisations said in their lawsuit that “Israel ignores the basic principles of the laws of war, such as the distinction between civilian and military targets and the principle of proportionality” in its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The Netherlands is home to a regional warehouse where US-owned F-35 parts are stored and from which they can be sent to partner countries.
Occupation army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the two ships the Houthi group said it had attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday have no connection with Israel.
The Houthi group said its naval forces targeted the two ships “Unity Explorer” and “Number 9” with an armed drone and a naval missile.
The spokesperson for the Yemeni group said that “its navy targeted two Israeli ships”, adding that “the targeting came after the two ships rejected warning messages from the naval forces” of the group.
There has been no news yet of the outcome of the attack.
The Red Sea has witnessed a series of Houthi attacks on ships, as well as the launch of drones and missiles targeting Israel, which is waging a war on the Gaza Strip.
The Jerusalem Post said it had discovered that Israel deleted videos documenting the 7 October attack, and that surveillance camera footage along the border with the Gaza Strip had disappeared.
The newspaper added that important recordings from the day of the attack had been removed from the central database.
The Israeli occupation army commented on the report in an official statement, saying that the videos had not been deleted but restricted to staff authorised to view them.
According to what the Israeli broadcaster Kan reported from the newspaper, “it appears that the clips were deliberately deleted to obstruct any in-depth investigations into the events”.
The family of one of the three Palestinian students who were shot in the US state of Vermont announced that their son had been paralysed from his chest down to his feet after a bullet lodged in his spine.
Hisham Awartani (20), who studies at Brown University and grew up in the West Bank, was walking with two of his friends near the university campus on 25 November when, police said, Jason Eaton (48) shot at them.
The other two students injured in the incident, Tahseen Ali, who studies at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who studies at Trinity College in Connecticut, are expected to make a full recovery.
Hamas condemned yesterday, Sunday, Britain’s intention to take part in what it described as a “genocide” war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The movement said in a statement that “the British army’s disclosure of its intention to carry out intelligence flights over the Gaza Strip makes Britain a partner of the Zionist occupation in its crimes, and responsible for the massacres to which our Palestinian people are being subjected”.
This came in a statement by the movement on Telegram, which said that “Britain should have corrected its historical position offensive to our people and atoned for the Balfour Declaration (1917), which is the sin of the century, instead of committing another sin and reminding the world of its shameful colonial past”.
The British Ministry of Defence announced in a statement on Saturday that it intends to carry out aerial reconnaissance over the Gaza Strip with the aim of “providing intelligence information for Israel”.
More than 100 activists took part in a pro-Palestine demonstration in Dubai yesterday, Sunday, on the sidelines of the fourth day of the UN climate summit. The demonstrators demanded a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which has been facing Israeli aggression for 58 days.
The activists gathered near the pavilion allocated to Israel at the conference and raised flags decorated with the colours of watermelon (which symbolises the Palestinian flag because of the ban).
The activists stressed the importance of achieving justice around the world before focusing on the fight against climate change, raised banners demanding an end to climate colonialism and chanted the slogan “Free Palestine”.
Before the demonstration, the conference venues had not seen any gatherings, in clear contrast to previous UN conferences, where thousands of climate activists took to the streets protesting against wars.
Reuters quoted an activist as saying that she faced strict UN rules while organising the demonstration, pointing to the complexity of the political space at the UN conference.
The activists pointed out that they were careful not to criticise Israel directly in the demonstration, in line with UN rules.
The authorities in Dubai required the organisers of the demonstration to obtain permits, specify the areas of movement, and have the slogans, banners and chants approved, many of which were banned.
The war has cast a shadow over the climate talks in Dubai and had a major impact on the delegation of the Palestinian Authority, which set up its first-ever pavilion at the conference.
Palestinian delegation member Hadeel Khamis affirmed that only a few delegates were able to attend because of the war, and asked about the meaning of climate justice and international law while Palestinians are being killed in cold blood.
