(25 Dec 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PELASE NOTE: STORYLINE AMENDED AT 15:00 GMT TO REFLECT UPDATED CASUALTY NUMBERS++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip - 25 December 2023
1. Various of body bags outside al Aqsa hospital, people crying
STORYLINE:
Body bags were seen on the ground outside al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza on Monday after a Sunday night airstrike in the Maghazi refugee camp.
Palestinian medical officials say death toll from Israeli airstrike in central Gaza has risen to 106.
The announcement makes the Sunday night airstrike among the deadliest in Israel’s air campaign in Gaza, launched on Oct. 7 in response to a deadly cross-border attack by Hamas militants.
Hospital officials initially said 68 people had died. But on Monday, first responders retrieved more than three dozen additional bodies that were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hospital records seen by The Associated Press listed 106 deaths.
The Israeli military says the incident is under review.
As Christmas Eve fell, smoke rose over the besieged territory, while in the West Bank, Bethlehem was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off. In neighboring Egypt, tentative efforts continued on a deal for another exchange of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel.
The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
The mounting death toll among Israeli troops — 154 since the ground offensive began — could erode public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage.
Israelis still largely stand behind the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. That's despite rising international pressure against Israel’s offensive, and the soaring death toll and unprecedented suffering among Palestinians.
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