Over 21,000 dead in Gaza, 7,000 missing – Day 82

Bombing, fire, destruction in Gaza; 3 deaths in West Bank; Israeli forces raid currency exchanges, seize cash, make arrests; settler attack on clergy; Israeli military and Shin Bet admit to mistakes

A large fire is reported in southern Gaza’s Rafah following Israeli attack on tents for displaced Palestinians. The following video has been verified:

RECOMMENDED READING: The ordeal of two Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces

This video shows destruction in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City:

 

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Displaced Palestinian mother in Gaza gives birth to quadruplets: On December 18, Iman gave birth to quadruplets in a hospital in southern Gaza far from her home. She was quickly asked to leave with the newborns – minus one who was too fragile to go with them – to make room for other patients of the war.

Like other mothers, Iman had hoped to follow tradition and celebrate the birth of her babies by “dousing them with rose water”, she said.

But 10 days on, “we have not even been able to bathe them”, she said, because of the difficulty of finding clean water in the devastated territory, where there is a dire shortage of basic foodstuff, including milk, medicine and hygienic supplies such as diapers.

Now they live in a cramped schoolroom turned shelter in Deir el-Balah along with around 50 other members of their extended family.

RECOMMENDED READING (HA’ARETZ): A New Kind of Hell in Gaza: Key Haaretz Articles on an Unthinkable Reality

A 21-year-old Palestinian who was shot in the neck by Israeli forces during a raid in Nablus on December 18 has died of his wounds, medical sources in the West Bank report.

A Palestinian young man was killed, and 14 others were injured, after they were shot by Israeli occupation forces, at dawn on Thursday, during Israeli aggression in the center of Ramallah.

A 38-year-old Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli forces near the tunnel checkpoint, west of Bethlehem.

On Wednesday night, Israeli forces launched the largest coordinated attack yet since October 7th, targeting ten cities across the West Bank. Israeli forces allegedly raided a number of homes, money exchanges, and jewelry shops, forcing owners to open the shops, before seizing valuables worth $2.7 million USD.

Israel’s Army Radio has reported that Israeli forces have designated five Palestinian money exchange shops as “terrorist organizations,” alleging they have been used to transfer funds to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and arrested 20 Palestinians.

UN rights chief Volker Turk criticized Israel’s “use of military tactics and weapons in law enforcement contexts [and] the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force.”

Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem reports “armed provocateurs’ attack clergy: The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has released a statement describing recent acts of violence against its community. It reported that more than 30 armed people “in ski-masks with lethal and less-than-lethal weaponry including powerful nerve agents that have incapacitated dozens of our clergy broke into the grounds of the Cow’s Garden and began their vicious assault”.

For background on this issue, see: Armenian Christians battle developer to keep control of their corner of Jerusalem

Israeli military official admits that IDF used the wrong munition in a recent strike on the Maghazi refugee camp, leading to high death toll: “The type of munition did not match the nature of the attack, causing extensive collateral damage which could have been avoided,” said the official. At least 90 people were killed late Sunday when Israel struck the small refugee camp in Deir el-Balah, in one of the war’s deadliest attacks. The disturbing video below shows the devastation from that attack.

Majority of Israeli Jews ‘support the removal of Palestinians from Gaza’: Antony Loewenstein, an Australian-German freelance investigative journalist and author, says that even before October 7, the majority of Israeli-Jewish citizens favored the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. “Israeli-Jewish society has been radicalized,” Loewenstein said. “There was a poll just this week that found 70-80 percent of Israeli Jews support the idea of finding somewhere else for Palestinians in Gaza to be removed. Israel claims that this is somehow voluntary, which is nonsense.”

Forced population transfer is a crime against humanity.

Shin Bet received intel on timing of October 7th attack, but marked it as insignificant and ignored it, Israeli Channel 12 reported. Shin Bet had concluded “if this really nears implementation, we’ll receive additional intelligence” corroborating it. The information was reportedly not brought to the attention of senior Shin Bet officials, and the agency chief Ronen Bar never heard about it.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – DECEMBER 27:

Palestinian death toll since October 7: at least 21,163* (~20,849 in Gaza* (70% women and children), and at least 314 in the West Bank, about 77 of them children). This does not include an estimated 7,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 29,124 Palestinian deaths.

*IAK does not yet include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation.

Palestinian injuries since October 7: at least 58,665** (including at least 55,603 in Gaza** and 3,805 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to provide an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption. 

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. in Gaza**. About 1.9 million people have been displaced (about 85-90% of the population).

Reported Israeli death toll since October 7: ~1,139  (7 killed in West Bank, 165 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and 5,431 injured, approximately 36 children).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. For more news, go here and here. Live broadcast news from the region is here.

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