Gaza, December 22, 2024: Israeli military airstrikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 17 Palestinians, including eight at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, according to Palestinian medics. The attacks come as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a hospital in northern Gaza.
The deadliest strike occurred at the Musa Bin Nusayr School in Gaza City, where eight people, including children, were killed. Palestinian medics stated that the school had been housing displaced families. The Israeli military, however, claimed that the strike targeted Hamas fighters operating from a command center within the school, which it said had been used by Hamas to plan and launch attacks against Israeli forces.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, medics reported that four Palestinians were killed when an airstrike hit a car. Another five Palestinians were killed in two separate airstrikes in Rafah and Khan Younis, located to the south of the enclave.
In Beit Lahiya, a northern Gaza town under Israeli military operations since October, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, said the Israeli army had ordered the evacuation of the hospital and the relocation of patients to another medical facility. Abu Safiya called the evacuation mission “next to impossible” due to the lack of ambulances available for the transfer.
The Israeli military has been active in the northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, as well as the nearby Jabalia refugee camp, for nearly three months. Palestinians have accused Israel of conducting “ethnic cleansing” to depopulate these areas and establish a buffer zone, but Israel denies these allegations, asserting that the operation targets Hamas militants and aims to prevent their regrouping. The Israeli military claims to have killed hundreds of militants and dismantled much of Hamas’s military infrastructure.
While both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad armed wings have claimed to have killed many Israeli soldiers in ambushes during this period, mediators from Qatar and Egypt have been working to resolve the conflict, with some progress in negotiations. However, significant obstacles remain.
The ongoing conflict began after a Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, which left over 1,200 people dead and more than 250 hostages taken, according to Israeli reports. As of now, about 100 hostages remain in captivity, though their status remains unclear.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, and displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. Much of the region has been reduced to rubble.
