Israel regrets civilian deaths in Gaza attack

War in the Middle East - Israel regrets civilian deaths in Gaza attack

Following heavy airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Christmas Eve that left dozens dead, Israel has expressed regret over the deaths of civilians. Despite this, there have also been attacks in recent days in which dozens of civilians are said to have died. According to a report, many of the hostages who were abducted in the Gaza Strip on 7 October and later released are severely traumatized. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards swear revenge for the general who was probably killed by Israel in Syria.

Attack on Christmas Eve is said to have killed more than 70 people

According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 70 people were killed in airstrikes in the Al-Maghasi refugee district on December 24. Women and children were also among the victims. UN reports even spoke of 86 dead. According to the UN, more than 33,000 people live in Al-Maghasi in an area of 0.6 square kilometers. According to an Israeli army spokesperson, work is underway to draw conclusions and lessons from the incident. However, Israel also accuses Hamas of deliberately abusing civilians as human shields.

During the airstrikes on December 24, Israeli fighter jets "as part of the Israeli army's operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas terror targets, attacked two targets next to which Hamas fighters were present", the Israeli army said. Prior to the attacks, steps had been taken to reduce the damage to uninvolved civilians in the area. An initial investigation revealed that other buildings next to the targets had been hit. This had presumably "caused damage to other uninvolved civilians". The incident is now being dealt with by a special committee within the army, which is responsible for investigating "exceptional incidents".

Report of major damage caused by fake ammunition

The Israeli Kan channel reported, citing an unnamed military officer, that the investigation had revealed that the wrong ammunition was used in the attack. This had also led to major damage in the immediate vicinity. "This could have been prevented if the right ammunition had been chosen for the mission," the broadcaster reported.

According to the health authority in Gaza, around 21,320 people have been killed in the coastal area so far. In view of the high number of civilian casualties, the military operation has been heavily criticized internationally. The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7.

Medics: Ten dead in new attack near clinic in Chan Junis

Another suspected Israeli attack on a building near a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip is said to have resulted in further fatalities. The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that ten people had been killed and twelve others injured in an attack near the Al-Amal hospital in Chan Junis.

According to the medics and the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 20 people had already been killed in the bombing of a residential building in the area on Wednesday. The information cannot be independently verified. An Israeli army spokesman said that the new report was being investigated. Israel suspects that the top leadership of the Islamist Hamas is hiding in Chan Junis.

Report: Many freed Hamas hostages still severely traumatized

According to a media report, many hostages who were freed from the hands of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in November still require intensive psychiatric treatment weeks later. The hostages had suffered the worst abuse and trauma she had experienced in her career, Renana Eitan, head of psychiatry at the Ichilov Center in Tel Aviv, told The Guardian newspaper. More than 100 hostages were released during a ceasefire at the end of November, while Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners in return.

Of the 14 hostages being treated by her team, nine are under the age of 18 and two are children under the age of ten, Eitan said. Most of them needed long-term trauma treatment. Among them were children who had been anaesthetized with ketamine during their captivity and suffered from severe withdrawal symptoms, as well as those who had been sexually abused or had witnessed sexual abuse.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards vow revenge against Israel

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Hussein Salami, reiterated old threats against Israel during a speech in Tehran at the funeral service for Brigadier General Sejed-Rasi Mussawi. The general had died in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria. "Our revenge is always bitter. But a revenge equivalent to the martyrdom of Sejed-Rasi is nothing more than erasing this regime (Israel) from the pages of history," the state news agency Irna Salami quoted him as saying. Iran's leadership has repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel, its declared arch-enemy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.