‘Gaza has been destroyed… we have nowhere to live’
Displaced Palestinians found little to celebrate on New Year’s Eve in Muwasi, a makeshift camp in the mostly undeveloped area of southern Gaza’s Mediterranean coast designated by Israel as “a safe zone”.
“From the intensity of the pain we live, we do not feel that there is a new year,” said Kamal al-Zeinaty, huddled with his family around a fire inside a tent. “All the days are the same.” Another relative, Zeyad al-Zeinaty, who fled with his family from the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, said his wife, brother and grandchildren are among many relatives he lost in the war.
A video published by the Red Crescent showed the chaotic aftermath of strikes in central Gaza as rescuers worked in the dark to carry an injured child from smoking rubble. As the year drew to a close, Palestinians in Gaza were praying for a ceasefire, but had little optimism that 2024 would be better.
“Gaza has been destroyed and we have nowhere to live. But we just want to stop hearing the sounds of planes and drones, for children to stop being afraid, and for us and our loved ones, those who are left, to meet again,” said Suzan Khader in Rafah.
Dark night in Gaza as 2024 begins
Barrage of rockets fired towards Israeli cities
With the new year beginning, Palestinian armed groups have launched a salvo of long-range missiles towards Israeli cities.
Sirens sounded throughout Israel warning of rockets flying over Tel Aviv, Gush Dan and the Gaza periphery. More than 20 missiles were fired towards Tel Aviv, 10 of which were intercepted, according to Israeli news sites. A missile fragment fell on the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot, causing no casualties.
Fierce ground battles in Khan Younis
Al Jazeera’s Wael al-Dahdouh reports that fierce fighting is now taking place between Palestinian armed groups and the Israeli army in the centre of Khan Younis. The ground battles are accompanied by repeated Israeli air and artillery bombardment. For more than a month, Israeli forces have tried to advance towards Khan Younis’s city centre from several points, but have been met by strong pushback from Palestinian armed groups.
Israel shelling several areas in Gaza Strip: Wafa
Several civilians were killed and others injured when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of civilians in the eastern Gaza district of Zeitoun, the Wafa news agency is reporting, citing medical sources. Wafa also reports that an Israeli drone bombed a house in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, injuring civilians, mostly children. People were also injured in an Israeli attack on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, with Wafa reporting the injured were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Israeli overnight raids across West Bank
Israeli forces are raiding many areas across the occupied West Bank tonight. There are raids reported in several places including:
- Al Bireh City, south of Qalqilya
- Biet Iybia, west of Nablus City
- Beit Ummar north of Hebron, targeting the neighbourhood adjacent to the Kermi Tsur settlement
- Barta’ah in Jenin
Genocide in Gaza – the information war
Israel’s war on Gaza has been a turning point for the world order and its media ecosystem. The extent of the brutality – a genocide unfolding in plain sight – and the sheer volume of disinformation designed to defend the indefensible. Also the complicity of so many Western news outlets – repeatedly exposed for failing to question Israeli propaganda, then spreading it.
US must repudiate Israeli minister’s calls for ‘ethnic cleansing of Gaza’: CAIR
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has said the Biden administration must repudiate remarks made by Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on the removal of Palestinians from Gaza.
Earlier we reported that Smotrich told Israeli Army Radio “let’s make the desert bloom” as he discussed two million Palestinians “emigrating” from Gaza. “If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different,” Smotrich said.
The US-based advocacy organisation CAIR described Smotrich’s remarks as the “latest open call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. It has always been the Israeli government’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Smotrich just made it official,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement. “The Biden’s administration failure to explicitly condemn such genocidal rhetoric has emboldened Israeli leaders to escalate their genocidal words into genocidal actions,” Awad added.
Biden recognises ‘murderous images doing him damage’: Analyst
As Biden looks to the November 2024 election, he “recognises that the most murderous images” from Gaza “are doing him damage”, says American author and political scientist Norman Finkelstein, speaking to Al Jazeera from New York.
“Biden is concerned not about ending the Israeli genocide, but that it doesn’t look so bad in the media,” Finkelstein said, noting that US voters aged 18 to 34 mostly oppose the war. But, Finkelstein says, that while there are reports that “Israel will agree to Biden’s demand that certain aspects of the genocide will be reduced”, this may “not have a major impact on the essence of the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza”.
New Year’s Eve protests for Palestine around the world
People have marked New Year’s Eve with protests for peace in Palestine.
In Lahore, Pakistan, people took to the streets on rollerblades and motorbikes, waving Palestinian flags.
In Istanbul, Turkey, demonstrators gathered outside the US consulate.
In Tahrir Square, Baghdad, a Christmas tree decorated with items resembling children wrapped in shrouds was displayed in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Manhattan on New Year's Eve. The large group gathered at Columbus Circle on Sunday afternoon.
'No Celebration Until Liberation': Pro-Palestine Protesters Rally in Melbourne on New Year's Eve
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/video/no-celebration-until-liberation-pro-181044936.html
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/none-of-us-are-free-until-all-of-us-are-free-hundreds-walk-whyte-ave-calling-for-ceasefire-in-gaza-1.6706617
https://abc7chicago.com/palestinian-protest-chicago-today-michigan-avenue-water-tower-place/14251670/
https://mynorthwest.com/3944855/rantz-protesters-plan-disrupt-new-years-space-needle-show/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12914343/Networks-plan-worst-NYE-NYC-protesters-threaten-derail.html
Oh the inconvenience to the ball drop...
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