More than 200 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli military shelling and ground operations in the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

About 3 months after the start of the war, Hamas announced the discovery of the bodies of dozens of Palestinians, many of whom it said had been “executed” during an Israeli ground operation in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

For its part, the Israeli army announced that five of its members had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip since Friday, bringing the death toll to 144 since the ground invasion began on October 27.

According to the ministry, 201 people were killed in multiple locations in the past twenty-four hours in the small, densely populated Palestinian enclave under Israeli siege.

The war erupted as a result of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, after members of the Hamas movement entered and attacked the border between Gaza and southern Israel. Israeli retaliatory bombardment by thousands of bombs by land, sea and air killed 20,258 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, and injured more than 53,000, according to Gaza's health ministry.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that Israeli aircraft and artillery bombarded several areas, including the Nusirat refugee camp (center) from north to south of the Gaza Strip; 18 people were killed in the night raid.

According to Agence France-Presse, it comes as the US is again pressuring its ally Israel to do more to protect civilians. Yesterday (Saturday), US President Joe Biden had a “lengthy” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to protect civilians, the White House announced in a statement.

“The President stressed the urgent need to protect civilians, including those supporting humanitarian aid operations, and the importance of allowing civilians to safely move from areas of ongoing conflict.”

Israeli officials released a brief statement about the call, saying, “The prime minister made it clear that Israel will continue the war until it achieves all its objectives.”

“Horrible Massacres”

In the large city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza; As the smoke billowed after the blast, the bodies and the injured were rushed to Nasser Hospital. Men carried a weeping woman over the bodies of her loved ones, while a man was seen crying with his hand on a covered corpse, while others performed last rites in front of a corpse.

Yesterday (Saturday), the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Ashraf al-Qudra, accused Israeli forces of carrying out several “brutal massacres” this week, which “led to the death of dozens of martyrs in the Jabaliya camp, the Tal al-Jadar area and the city of Jabaliya,” according to the report. , the Israeli army “executed” dozens of civilians in the streets. “Dozens of martyrs were rescued,” he said, “and the occupation hanged many of them in front of their families.”

In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the Israeli army did not want to specifically respond to allegations of executions carried out by its soldiers. But he insisted his strikes were “against military targets in accordance with the rules of international law” and “were conducted after an assessment that the expected collateral damage to civilians and civilian property was not excessive compared to the expected military consequences of the attack.”

A video clip showed a body under the rubble on a street in Jabaliya and massive destruction in various areas.

In Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, civil defense reported “dozens of mutilated bodies recovered” from the streets.

“Hunger, Famine and the Spread of Disease”

In light of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that “an immediate ceasefire is the most urgent demand”.

He pointed out that the 362 square kilometer area, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in makeshift camps, is greatly threatened by “hunger, famine and the spread of disease”.

A drone struck a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday in solidarity with the Palestinians, after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched multiple drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, two shipping agencies said, one of which identified the vessel. Connected to Israel. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Families of hostages protest

For its part, the Israeli military released images showing the advance through rubble and gunfire toward targets south of Gaza City. He said “armed terrorists who tried to attack the soldiers were eliminated” and “several buildings used by Hamas as military bases were destroyed.”

Al-Qassam Brigades reported ambushing Israeli forces in the Zur al-Diq area (central) and targeting several Israeli military vehicles in various areas in addition to bombing operations.

Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaidah said in a statement yesterday (Saturday): “We lost contact with the group responsible for 5 Zionist prisoners as a result of the Zionist bombing, and we believe the prisoners were killed. As a result of the blast,” including 3 elderly people who appeared in a video clip released on December 18.

Hamas is demanding a ceasefire before hostage negotiations begin. Israel has not rejected the idea of ​​a ceasefire; But it rules out any ceasefire before “destroying” the movement.

Israelis, including friends and relatives of the hostages, protested again in Tel Aviv on Saturday, demanding action to free them.