‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 81: WHO says Gaza’s health system is being ‘decimated’ by Israeli bombardment

Casualties

• 20,674+ killed* and at least 54,536 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
• 305 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
• Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
• 491 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 1,952 injured.

*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on December 25. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has been unable to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 28,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.

Key Developments

• Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar says fighters inflicted loss and damage to Israeli forces, targeting no less than 5,000 soldiers and attacking 750 military vehicles since October 7.
• Israeli military says air force launched more that 100 strikes in 24 hours in Gaza.
• Palestine Red Crescent Society says offices in Khan Yunis bombed by Israeli artillery shelling, destroying upper floor and injuring several Palestinians taking shelter.
• WHO team hears harrowing stories of Palestinian survivors of Israeli bombardment in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, which killed 70 people.
• Israeli forces heavily bomb neighborhoods in Khan Younis and vicinity of Nasser Hospital as it attempts to win foothold in southern Gaza.
• Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in Al-Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron, south of West Bank.
• Israeli forces arrest prominent political activist Khalida Jarrar after raiding her house in Ramallah.
• Israeli forces raid Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem for nearly eight hours, blowing up three properties and arresting several Palestinians.

Hamas leader praises Palestinian steadfastness against Israeli aggression

In his first public message since October 7, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said that the Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades are waging a fierce and unprecedented battle against Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip in a letter published by Al-Jazeera Arabic on their website.

Sinwar’s letter was addressed to members of the Hamas political bureau amid talks of Egyptian-Qatari mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and a hostage exchange deal with Israel. Later on Monday, however, Al-Jazeera removed the letter from its website.

Sinwar said that resistance fighters inflicted significant losses on  Israeli forces, targeting no less than 5,000 soldiers, killing a third of them. The Hamas leader added that resistance fighters attacked a total of 750 military vehicles, which according to him resulted in their complete or partial destruction.

He added that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “provided unparalleled examples of sacrifice, heroism, chivalry, solidarity, and interdependence” during the war, in which Israeli forces killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 55,000.

Israel’s official numbers indicate that 156 Israeli soldiers have been killed in battle as of Monday. However, these figures may be higher, as the Israel army has reportedly placed a gag order preventing Israeli media from reporting on Israeli casualties in the Gaza Strip, based on independent sources.

Israeli forces bomb Palestine Red Crescent Society’s offices in Gaza

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said that the air force launched more than 100 strikes over the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Tuesday that its offices in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, were attacked by Israeli artillery shelling, destroying the upper floor. Several displaced Palestinians sheltering in the building were injured.

PRCS said that an ambulance crew “miraculously” survived the Israeli shelling on Monday while they were transporting the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Al-Katiba neighborhood in Khan Younis. Israeli forces also arrested several PRCS employees in the Jabalia Ambulance Center in northern Gaza after storming it last week.

Since October 7, the PRCS, which runs several medical centers and affiliated hospitals in the Gaza Strip, has been operating under dire conditions and a lack of sufficient medical and fuel supplies. At least 284 staff members have been killed in Israeli bombardment since October 7, most of them while on their way to provide first aid and medical services.

On Monday evening, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that 20,674 people have been martyred and 54,536 have been injured in Israeli bombardment since October.

WHO crews hear horrific stories of Palestinian survivors of Al-Maghzai massacre

On Sunday night, at least 70 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli bombing of houses in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on X that the WHO’s staff heard “horrific stories” of victims at the Al-Aqsa Hospital about the brutal bombing of Al-Maghazi.

“WHO’s team heard harrowing accounts shared by health workers and victims of the suffering caused by the explosions. One child had lost their whole family in the strike on the camp. A nurse at the hospital suffered the same loss, with his entire family killed,” Ghebreyesus wrote.

He added that health staff at the Al-Aqsa Hospital tried to save the life of Ahmad, a 9-year-old child, who had a head injury caused by shrapnel and debris from the Israeli explosion as he was crossing a road in Al-Maghazi.

“Doctors told us that his injuries were so serious he would not survive,” he wrote on Monday.

“[Al-Aqsa] hospital is taking in far more patients than its bed capacity and staff can handle. Many will not survive the wait. It is currently running five operating theatres in the hospital and two more are being supported by [Doctors without Borders], but it is still not enough,” he added.

Ghebreyesus called for a ceasefire and said that WHO crews are witnessing the decimated of the health system in Gaza, which has been “brought to its knees” as Israeli bombardment continues.

Gemma Connell of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) told the BBC on Tuesday that conditions at the Al-Aqsa Hospital were “absolute carnage” on Monday.

Connell said that during her visit to the hospital, “there were new air strikes hitting areas around the hospital in the middle area and new casualties being brought in.”

“Tragically I saw a nine-year-old boy with a devastating head injury who passed away,” she added. “When I say that there were strikes again today and casualties arriving, some of those strikes were in areas that people have been told to evacuate to, which, again goes back to the refrain that, I think, I am so sick of saying: that there is no safe place in Gaza.”

Israeli forces focus firepower on Khan Younis, attempts to gain foothold in southern Gaza

In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces intensified its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, focusing its firepower on Khan Younis and the southern areas as ground forces attempt to win a foothold in the second-largest city in the coastal enclave.

At least ten Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis City. Israeli forces also bombed the vicinity of the Nasser Hospital and the houses of the Al-Najjar family, south of Khan Younis’s Kaizan Al-Najjar area, and the Abu Rizqa family in the city’s Dutch neighborhood, Wafa news reported.

Israeli airstrikes killed five Palestinians in the Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis on Monday evening. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that Israeli forces committed 25 massacres since Sunday evening, killing at least 250 Palestinians and injuring 500 others.

To the east and north of Khan Younis, Israeli forces bombed the towns of Bani Suheila, Al-Bureij, and Al-Maghazi refugee camps with artillery shells and airstrikes.

Juhr Al-Dik, an area southeast of Gaza City, has also been bombed. Juhr Al-Dik has become the site of multiple Palestinian fighters’ attacks on Israeli forces stationed in the area since late October.

In the southern town of Rafah, several Palestinians injured in Israeli assaults were hospitalized at the Kuwaiti Hospital. Israeli forces bombed the house of the Al-Amsi family in Rafah’s Al-Najmeh Square and another house in the Al-Shaboura refugee camp. Israeli forces also bombed the city of Deir Al-Balah on Monday evening.

Israeli forces storm Nour Shams refugee camp, kill two Palestinians in Hebron

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning.

The Ministry of Health said Ibrahim Majid Abdel Majeed al-Titi, 31, and Ahmad Muhammad Yousef Yaghi, 17, were killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron, in the southern West Bank.

Israeli forces stormed Al-Fawwar on Tuesday morning and shot live bullets at Palestinians, killing Yaghi and al-Titi. The total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since October 7 has risen to 305.

Wafa reported that Israeli forces arrested 55 Palestinians overnight. The most prominent of the arrestees is political activist Khailda Jarrar, 60, and Rashad Karaja, the head of the Safa village council near Ramallah. Both Jarrar and Karaja are prominent leftist activists.

Israeli forces raided Jarrar’s house in the town of al-Bireh near Ramallah and inspected her belongings. Jarrar has been arrested numerous times over the years and has served multiple consecutive administrative detention sentences, the last being in 2021, after which she was released from Israeli prison. Jarrar’s younger daughter, Suha, died during her mother’s last period of detention, and Jarrar was unable to attend her daughter’s funeral despite being imprisoned with no charge or trial.

Israeli forces also arrested 17 Palestinians from the Abu Hadid and Al-Atrash families in Hebron, while another 17 workers and merchants at Barta’a military checkpoint, south of Jenin town, were also arrested before being transferred to the Salem and Huwwara detention centers.

In Bethlehem, 15 Palestinians were arrested overnight, including two women and a journalist, Wafa news reported.

Since October, Israeli forces arrested a total of 4,785 Palestinians from their homes or at military checkpoints, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

Following a nearly eight-hour raid of Nour Shams refugee camp, east of the city of Tulkarem, Israeli forces withdrew from the area on Tuesday morning.

Israeli forces blew up three houses in Nour Shams, including the home of Odeh Khalil Arif Hassan, 38, in the Al-Maslakh neighborhood. Hassan was arrested during the raid.

The explosion caused damage to nearby houses, including the home of Abdul Hadi Arif and Muhammad Al-Azab, Wafa reported.

The second house Israeli forces blew up belonged to Yousef al-Zindeeq, located at the entrance of Nour Shams. The second floor of Musa Al-Azb’s home was later detonated, setting it on fire.

Wafa reported that Israeli forces vandalized Palestinians’ homes during the raid and seized mobile phones, arresting Abdel Karim Omar Nasrallah, 27, and Ahmad Muhammad Abu Zahra, 26.

Israeli bulldozers crushed several Palestinian vehicles, destroyed walls, and damaged roads in Nour Shams. A building under construction in the Aktaba area was bombed with Energa anti-tank shells.

Israeli forces also raided Tulkaren city as Nour Shams was turned into a closed “military zone,” which prevented the entry and exit of Palestinians into the camp, while Israeli reconnaissance aircraft was flying at a low altitude over the area, Wafa reported.