While millions of people around the world are celebrating the new year, the sirens are wailing again in Israel. The country's army is preparing for a long war. The overview.
Tel Aviv/Gaza – There were rocket alarms again in several cities in Israel on New Year's Eve. The Israeli army said on Monday night that sirens were sounding on the border with the Gaza Strip and in the interior of the country. As the Times of Israel newspaper reported, the Islamist Hamas fired more than 20 rockets towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. Most were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. According to the rescue service, no injuries were initially reported as a result of the shelling, it said.
Israel lets some reservists home
Three months after the start of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel's military is now adjusting its troop deployment in anticipation of even longer fighting and allowing some reservists to temporarily return to civilian life. “The goals of the war require a longer fight, and we are preparing accordingly,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday evening. According to the Times of Israel, the military believes it is likely that the Gaza war will continue throughout 2024.
“We adapt our style of warfare and the forces required for each area in the Gaza Strip to best fulfill the mission, as each area has different characteristics and different operational needs,” Hagari said. Some of the reservists will “return to their families and their jobs” this week. This will ease pressure on Israel's economy and allow reservists to “gather strength for the activities ahead” in the new year.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history on October 7, in which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups murdered around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted around 240 others to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive.
Israel's goal is the complete destruction of Hamas. The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza so far has risen to 21,822, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. This cannot currently be independently verified, but the UN and other observers say the authority's figures have proven to be credible overall in the past would have. Israel's bombings have caused severe devastation in the narrow coastal area.
Report: Hamas massacre investigation
Israeli investigators are now reconstructing the October 7 massacre based on around 200,000 photos and videos as well as 2,000 witness statements with the intention of initiating legal proceedings against those responsible, as the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. It is expected to be the most important trial since the trial of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961, it was said. During the Nazi era, he had millions of Jews deported to extermination camps. Eichmann was sentenced to death and hanged.
Forensic evidence provided to the newspaper by Israeli officials showed, among other things, that some victims were burned alive. Photos show mutilations of the victims' bodies, including the sexual organs of men and women. The bodies of women and girls showed various signs of sexual violence. Hamas denies killing children and raping women.
Experts: Evidence of torture and executions
Israel has so far identified about 800 civilians murdered on October 7, including 37 minors under the age of 17, six of whom were younger than five, the newspaper reported. According to the head of the forensic center, computer tomography scans showed signs of torture and executions. The terrorists posted videos of killings and kidnappings on their victims' social media pages where friends and family could view them, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Again incidents with Houthi rebels
Meanwhile, attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea led to a direct confrontation with the US military. The pro-Iranian group attacked a Danish container ship with small arms from four small boats and tried to get onto the ship, the responsible US regional command said on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. A security team on board returned fire. US forces then intervened, attacked themselves and ultimately killed several of the rebels, it was said.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked ships with alleged Israeli connections in the Red Sea. They also repeatedly attack Israel directly with drones and missiles.
What will be important on Monday
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains catastrophic. Nevertheless, Israel continues the fighting. dpa
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