Israel warned that the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue “throughout” 2024 after a New Year's Eve marked by incessant attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory and rocket fire against Tel-Aviv.
Almost three months after the start of the war, triggered after an attack launched on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement in Israel, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced to troops Sunday night that some reservists would pause to prepare for “prolonged combat.”
The military “must plan ahead as we will be asked to perform additional tasks and combat throughout this year,” he said.
An Israeli government official told Reuters that the country will withdraw some of the force in Gaza to “dedicate themselves to more specific operations against Hamas”, but also to prepare for the possibility of a second battle front on the northern border. This time with the Hezbollah group, which operates from Lebanon and has bombed the north of the country since the beginning of the conflict with Hamas.
That same official assured that several Army reservists will partially return to their civilian life. in order to re-boost the economy after several effects due to the war.
The source also told Reuters that while Israel controls much of the Strip, The army would enter a third stage of the war that could last at least six months. “This will take at least six months and will involve intense clearance missions against terrorists,” she said.
(Read also: Tension grows in the Red Sea: ten Houthis killed in exchange of fire with the US.)
Israeli soldiers fire mortar fire from an area near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack perpetrated on its soil from the Gaza Strip by commandos of this organization classified as “terrorist” by the United States, Israel and the European Union. This attack left around 1,200 dead, most of them civilians.
The Islamist group also took about 250 hostages, most of whom remain captive in Gaza, according to Israel.
In response, Israel launched a relentless offensive in Gaza, which has so far left 21,978 dead, mostly women, adolescents and children.according to figures from Hamas, which governs the Strip.
(Also: Why the war in Gaza could mark a checkmate for Benjamin Netanyahu?)
Even on New Year's Eve the bombing did not stop. An AFP correspondent reported artillery fire and airstrikes against the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on New Year's Eve.
At least 24 people were killed in those attacks, according to Hamas' Health Ministry. According to the same source, 15 bodies from the same family were recovered on Monday under rubble of a house bombed on Sunday night in Jabaliya, northern Gaza.
In several parts of Israel, for its part, warning sirens sounded at the beginning of 2024. AFP journalists in Tel Aviv witnessed defense systems intercepting rockets in the sky, prompting some to run for cover.
Cloud of smoke in central Gaza after the Israeli attacks on January 1, 2024.
“I'm terrified, it's the first time I've seen missiles,” Gabriel Zemelman, 26, told AFP outside a bar in Tel Aviv where he had met his friends.
The Ezzedin al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the M90 rocket attack carried out in “response to the massacre of civilians” perpetrated by Israel.
The Israeli army confirmed the attack without reporting any casualties or damage.
In the besieged Gaza Strip, where according to the UN 85% of the population has been displaced and the humanitarian situation is critical, the bombings continue unabated.
(You can read: Palestinian delegation will travel to Egypt to negotiate a plan to end the war in Gaza)
The Hamas Health Ministry reported the deaths of at least 48 Palestinians in overnight bombings in Gaza City, and another attack on the Al Aqsa University campus in Gaza left at least 20 dead, according to the same source.
The Israeli army, on the contrary, indicated that it had killed more than a dozen enemy combatants in ground engagements, airstrikes and tank fire, adding that he had located Hamas tunnels and explosives in a school.
“The year 2023 was the worst of my life,” Ahmed al Baz, 33, told AFP, who had to leave his home in Gaza City and now lives in a makeshift camp in Rafah, in the south of the territory.
“We are experiencing a tragedy that not even our grandparents experienced,” he said. “We have been through hell and faced death itself.”
AFP
#Israel #warns #war #Hamas #Gaza #39will #continue
