Israel-Palestine live: Deadly Israeli attacks across Gaza as West Bank raids continue

Israeli forces struck a house in al-Zawaida, killing at least 12, Al Jazeera English has reported. 

The attack comes amid a surge in Israel's bombardment of central Gaza.

During the past 24 hours, at least 165 people were killed, according to the local health ministry.

Israel is targeting the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees in an attempt to change the demographics of the Gaza Strip (Unrwa) and increase displacement and forced expulsion, the Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The end goal of Israel's bombardment is to expel Palestinians from the besieged enclave, the ministry said. 

"This is taking place by destroying homes, killing people en masse, and ensuring that poverty and lack of medicine leads to diseases," it continued.

The border zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt should be under Israel's control, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday as he predicted the bombing of Gaza would last many more months.

"The Philadelphi Corridor - or to put it more correctly, the southern stoppage point (of Gaza) - must be in our hands. It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek," he said.

Israel has said it intends to destroy the Hamas government in Gaza and demilitarise the enclave.

"The war is at its height. We are fighting on all of the fronts. Achieving victory will require time. As the (army) chief of staff has said, the war will continue for many more months," Netanyahu said.

He added a rare threat to attack Iran directly over the near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border.

"If Hezbollah expands the warfare, it will suffer blows that it has not dreamed of - and so too Iran," Netanyahu said without elaborating.

US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia called on the Biden administration to explain why it has twice moved to transfer weapons to Israel without congressional oversight. 

The US sold an estimated $147.5m of weapons under an emergency clause requiring the immediate sale of munitions. 

"Just as Congress has a crucial role to play in all matters of war and peace, Congress should have full visibility over the weapons we transfer to any other nation," said Kaine who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Unnecessarily bypassing Congress means keeping the American people in the dark. We need a public explanation of the rationale behind this decision - the second such decision this month," added the senator.

The earlier decision Kaine referred to was a $106.5 million sale of 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition, which the Biden administration also bypassed congressional oversight to send.

Kaine was Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016.

Amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestinians have established soup kitchens dedicated to providing meals for displaced people.

Mohammed, a volunteer cook at one of the initiatives in Rafah's al-Shaboura refugee camp, told Middle East Eye that they have had to increase output by at least 7 times the amount they used to cook. 

"Even that is not enough," he said in an on-the-ground interview. "I feel so sad for the people who end up waiting in line for hours but are not able to get food.  I wish the world could stand with Gaza and stop this."

"People wait in lines all day, from morning to night. Some successfully get food while others do not. So many people had to flee to this area, and the humanitarian conditions here are miserable. Displaced people are pleading with us for food and clothes for children," he said.

Mohammed said local inflation has made basic necessities unaffordable for most.

"We do not have gas. Wood is expensive, it used to cost 5 shekels, now it's up to 40. Lentils used to be 2 shekels per kilo, now they are 15. A bag of flour, which used to be 30 shekels, now costs 300 shekels. Prices have skyrocketed," he said.

Samiha, another volunteer who helps the cook in the kitchen, said that when wood runs out to cook on they turn to any flammable materials available, even if the fumes are not always safe.

"All of us volunteers are exhausted. We cook over an open fire, which requires a lot of wood. When we don't have wood, we burn our clothes, shoes, and plastic, which poses risks to our health and our breathing, especially for the small children."

An Israeli soldier being held captive by the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Gaza was killed in an Israeli air strike that had also wounded some of the captors.

In an audio speech broadcast by Al Araby television, a spokesperson for the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades group said the air strike took place following a failed attempt by Israeli commandos to free the soldier.

The spokesperson gave no details of when the soldier had been taken captive, or where he was being held in Gaza. He said the group is still holding the body of the slain soldier.

Israeli forces bombed the home of journalist Jabr Abu Hadros in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing him along with at least six members of his family. 

Hadros worked for the Al-Quds news organisation. 

Neighbouring homes adjacent to the Abu Hadros residence were also destroyed in the blast, a local witness told Middle East Eye.

"We were sleeping when suddenly the stones started falling on us," one of the neighbours said.

"Immediately, we started to retrieve the bodies of the killed. I have no words to describe the scene; body parts were scattered all over the place," the neighbour continued.  

According to the witness, children and several elderly people were among those killed.

"The hospital I went to was overcrowded, and they had to send some people back home after performing emergency interventions," the neighbour said. 

Another witness affected by the blast told MEE that the attack happened while they were sleeping.

"Last night we drank tea and went to bed, but we woke up to fire all over the place. This life is horrific," the witness said, adding that they had to dig through the rubble to find clothes to cover themselves this morning. 

"There were more than 40 people in our house, with the majority being displaced women and children. We are all civilians who fled our houses to seek a safer place. The house we fled to is adjacent to the Abu Hadros house," the witness continued.

"Many children are still unaware that their parents have been killed. My message to the world is to wake up and put an end to the genocide against Palestinians, otherwise we will all perish. We are peaceful people fighting against the warmongering leaders of Israel and the US."

According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, a total of 106 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

Reporting by Mohamed Abu Homs in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians in Gaza have said that they are continuing to be targeted, even in "safe zones" designated by the Israeli army.

"We were taking shelter in the college last night when the Israeli forces opened fire on us. The college housed thousands of displaced people, as it was marked a safe zone. I am not surprised they are targeting us. We do not trust the Israeli army's instructions; they do not care and kill us anyway," Mohammed Al-Hayek, a 15-year-old, told Middle East Eye.

Al-Hayek was wounded by Israeli shrapnel in his leg while sheltering in a safe zone.

"All the window glass shattered around us. We could not leave due to the intensity of the bombardment. Today, at 7am, while collecting our belongings, they shelled an artillery raid on us. A piece of shrapnel hit my leg," he added.

Mohammed Al-Qidra, the emergency doctor at Nasser Hospital, says that the majority of wounded people that come to the hospital need amputations, including to their legs, hands, arms and spine.

"Most of the victims are children and babies who have undergone amputation or suffered severe burns. I've had cases of 4-month-old children with amputated legs," he told Middle East Eye.

"While the world celebrates the new year, Palestinians are being killed, displaced and injured, lying on the hospital floor. We urgently need a ceasefire. Doctors are exhausted, sleeping for less than four hours," he added.

"During a nap with the rest of the doctors, one of our colleagues was talking in his sleep, saying, 'Let's give him the tube so he can breathe'. All that occupies our mind is saving people at this moment."

Report by Ahmad Abu Aziz

The UN agency Unrwa said on Saturday that Gaza is now grappling with catastrophic hunger.

According to the organisation, 40 percent of the population are now at risk of famine. 

Israeli warplanes have struck several sites in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday, according to the Syrian defence ministry.

"Israel carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting a number of points south of the city of Aleppo," the statement said.

The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the attack.
 

United Nations agencies have said that Israeli bombardment and attacks on Gaza have caused damage to at least 352 schools in the besieged enclave.

The damage to the schools have affected over 400,700 students, more than half of them girls.

Since the start of the war on 7 October, many of the schools have been used as shelters for forcibly displaced Palestinians. 

The UN agency Ocha announced on Saturday that 307 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on 7 October.

The figure includes 79 children.

Of the dead, 298 were killed by Israeli forces, eight by Israeli settlers and another either by forces or settlers.

This year marks the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied territory since Ocha began recording casualties in 2005.

The Israeli army has reported that 431 soldiers are currently hospitalised, out of which 44 of are in severe condition and 258 are moderately wounded.

Israeli forces have intensified air strikes in the vicinity of the European Hospital in Khan Younis on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.

Palestinians are sheltering in the area and moving their belongings after being forcibly displaced. 

Many people in the area have been wounded and taken to hospital, mainly children and women.

Protesters gathered in Japan's Tokyo demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza in video footage shared online.

Protesters held up signs which read "end the genocide", "boycott USA" and "free Palestine".