Gaza war sees regional tensions spike

27 Dec, 2023

OCUUPIED AL-QUDS: The Israel-Hamas war saw regional tensions spike on Tuesday, with explosions reported off the coasts of Egypt and Yemen, deadly US strikes in Iraq and strikes from Lebanon.

Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Hamas and other Palestinian also took around 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed, including by friendly fire.

Determined to destroy Hamas, Israel has led a relentless air and ground offensive that has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and killed at least 20,915 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

On day 81 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

Global pressure for a ceasefire has been mounting, but Israel pressed on with its war on Hamas.

The army said it had struck more than 100 targets in 24 hours, including Hamas military sites, tunnel shafts and other infrastructure, in central Jabalia and Khan Yunis in the south.

The health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 30 people killed in strikes were brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. There was also deadly violence in the occupied West Bank where two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid on the Fawwar refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli army said it arrested senior Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar in the occupied West Bank, along with other activists of her leftist party. Jarrar is a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation considered a “terrorist” group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

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