Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

On Day 87 of the US-Backed Israeli Genocidal War on Gaza Strip:

13 Massacres, 156 Palestinians Killed, 246 Injured,

 with a Death Toll of  21,978 and 57,697 Injuries

January 1, 2024 

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Editor's Notes:  

Here are some initial (not final) statistics, which show the Israeli war crimes against humanity, during the current Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip:  

By January 1, 2024, the initial death toll of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip is 28,978+.   

This includes the accounted for deaths (21,978) and those who are still missing under the rubble (Corrected on December 23, 2023: 7,000+).   

By January 1, 2024, the documented injuries exceeded 57,697, and more than 2,520 civilians have been abducted from Gaza Strip (80 mutilated corpses were returned on 12/27/23).

By January 1, 2024, there were 319 Palestinians who were killed, 3,534 who were injured, and 4,910, who were abducted by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, since October 7, 2023.

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By December 28, 2023, the death toll included 8,800+ children and 6,300+ women.   

By December 27 2023,  there was a complete destruction of 65,000+ housing units, and a partial destruction of 290,000+ housing units (60% of Gaza housing units). This forced about 1.5 million people to become homeless, taking refuge in crowded UN schools and ultimately sleeping in the streets.  

The Israeli refusal to allow international aid caravans to enter Gaza freely led the Palestinian population to be on the verge of mass extermination for the lack of food, water, medicine, and fuel.  

By January 1, 2024, 326 health personnel and 97 journalists were killed and hundreds were injured, 104 ambulances were destroyed while on duty, killing and injuring their crews, and destroyed 150 health institutions. As a result of the strikes and lack of fuel, 30 hospitals and 53 primary care centers are not functioning.  

Meanwhile, 126 government offices and 92 schools and universities were completely destroyed, while 285 schools and universities were partially damaged.

115 mosques were completely destroyed, while 200 others were partially damaged, in addition to three churches.

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An injured Palestinian little girl, who survived an Israeli genocidal air strike on Gaza Strip, receiving treatment in a hospital, January 1, 2024	The injured Palestinian little boy, Hani Al-Sha'ir, who survived an Israeli genocidal air strike on Gaza Strip, December 31, 2023
An Israeli genocidal air strike on a house in Gaza, file, January 1, 2024	The Palestinian journalist, Nirmeen 'Habboush, was killed with her baby and her mother by an Israeli genocidal air strike on Gaza Strip, December 31, 2023
Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza spending their first day of 2024 in tents, in Rafa'h, in southern Gaza Strip, January 1, 2024	Smoke rising from an Israeli genocidal air strike on Dair El-Bala'h, January 1, 2024
Getting the dead and the injured Palestinian civilians from under the rubble of the houses which were destroyed by an Israeli genocidal air strike on Dair El-Bala'h, January 1, 2024	Performing  funeral prayer on the Palestinian civilians who were killed in an Israeli genocidal air strike on Dair El-Bala'h, January 1, 2024

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا"  (الْمَائِدَةُ ، 5: 32).

"وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا" (النِّسَاءُ ، 4: 93).

"إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ " (الإسْرَاءُ ، 17: 7). 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had killed humankind entirely" (The Holy Quran, Al-Ma-ida, 5: 32).

"And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him, and has cursed him, and has prepared for him a great torment" (Al-Nisa, 4: 93).

"If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, (you do it) to yourselves" (Al-Isra, 17: 7). 

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While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written human history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of Prophets David and Solomon , peace be upon them, and Solomon's son).

 After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus, peace be upon him, started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

No matter what the Zionists and their supporters do, they cannot change the will of God, Who promised the Holy Land to Abraham and his descendants, basically the Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

No matter how much persecution and aggression the Zionists and their supporters inflict upon the Palestinian people, they will never be able to force them out of the Holy Land, which Allah, praise to Him, promised for them, and kept His promise ever since.

This is a necessary brief background to understand the US-Backed Zionist Israeli continuous wars against the Arab nation generally, and the Palestinian people in particular, which included the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, the brutal crushing of the two Uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2004), 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and the current genocidal war on Gaza, which has culminated a blockade of Gaza since 2007. In addition, the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime launched so many covert operations, raids, and air strikes on many Arab states since 1948.

The following news stories are just examples, not a systematic record, of the Israeli occupation government abuse, mistreatment, and violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

More detailed news stories can be found at the following sources:

http://english.wafa.ps/, https://english.palinfo.com/, https://imemc.org/, https://paltoday.ps/ar/


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Editorial Notes about terms & names of people and places:

1. Names of people and places have been standardized to match standard Arabic grammatical rules.

2. Underlined letters and letters preceded by an apostrophe are references to Arabic letter sounds, which does not exist in the English alphabet.

3. The English letter i is equivalent to the Arabic short vowel known as kasra, as in Ibraheem and Qasim as well as in the English words sit and bit. So, it is incorrect to use it as a long vowel for such Arabic names as Jameel and Jibreel.

4. The English letter e is equivalent to the Arabi short vowel known as fat'ha, as in A'hmed and Mu'hammed.

5. It is more accurate to refer to the land-grabbing Israelis, who establish illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, as illegal Israeli settlers, than referring to them as colonists.

The term colony is a reference to a large entity or a country, such as American states before independence. It was also a reference to Egypt, and India, when they were British colonies.

In addition, the term "colony" represents a positive nostalgic theme, in the minds of native speakers of English, particularly in America and Britain.

6. It is more accurate to use the verb "abduct" than the verb "detain," in reference to taking Palestinian citizens by force to prisons and interrogation centers, by Israeli occupation regime soldiers. This is because the presence of the Israeli occupation regime forces is illegal in the Palestinian territories, and they have no jurisdiction over the Palestinian people.

Click here for more about using the apostrophe and the underlining of letters in the transliteration of Arabic names.


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UNRWA: The Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment targeted 180 UN facilities in Gaza Strip

Monday 1-January-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that Israeli genocidal bombing operations have targeted 180 of its facilities in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 300 people. Some of the UNRWA’s facilities were directly struck.

This came in an interview conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) with Juliette Touma, Director of Media and Communications at the UN agency, and was published on “X” platform on Monday.

Touma said that “About 1.4 million Palestinians, who were displaced due to Israeli raids, live in UNRWA facilities throughout Gaza.”

“Our facilities have become completely full, so people have started sleeping outside,” she pointed out.

Touma said on X: “1.4 million people in Gaza are sheltering in UNRWA facilities and many more in the vicinity, sleeping outdoors.”

In a separate statement on X, the UN agency said that “while the world is crowded with New Year’s celebrations, the streets of southern Gaza are crowded with displaced people.” 

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Killing and Injuring of Palestinians in Ghazza (Gaza) by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces

‎On December 30, 2023, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the Spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment on Gaza Strip resulted in the killing of 150 Palestinian civilians and injuring of 286, in the past 24 hours. This increased the death toll in Gaza Strip to 21,672 and the injuries to 56,165, since October 7, 2023.

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Gaza: Israeli occupation army committed 16 massacres in 24 hours

Monday 1-January-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Monday that the Israeli occupation army committed, over the past 24 hours, 13 massacres in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the martyrdom of at least 156 civilians and the injury of 246 others.

In a brief statement, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qidra said that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardment, which started on October 7, climbed to 21,978 martyrs and the number of the wounded surged to 57,697 people.

In a related context, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf Al-Qidra said that the Israeli occupation army had killed in Gaza 326 health personnel and continues to kidnap 99 medical professionals.

Spokesman Qidra also said that the Israeli army deliberately targeted 150 health facilities in Gaza, put 30 hospitals and medical centers out of service and destroyed 104 ambulances.

He appealed to UN institutions to work immediately on protecting the health system and its staff in Gaza, sending medical teams and setting up field hospitals. 

US-backed Israeli genocidal war on Gaza enters Day 87

Monday 1-January-2024, GAZA, (PIC)

The US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip reached Day 87 on Monday, the first day of the new year, as the death toll in the war-torn coastal enclave neared the 22,000 mark.

A reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said that the Israeli occupation army continued to attack different areas of Gaza last night and on Monday morning, targeting homes, civilian gatherings and shelter centers, and massacring dozens of citizens.

According to local sources, 10 civilians were martyred after the Israeli army bombed homes in Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, while six others were killed in an airstrike in Beer Al-Na’ja area, west of Jabalya.

An unknown number of casualties were also reported following an Israeli artillery attack on Al-Zawayida town in central Gaza, while three kids were injured in a similar attack in Dair El-Bala'h.

A fisherman was seriously injured when an Israeli gunboat attacked him off the shores of Gaza, west of Al-Nusayrat refugee camp.

Meanwhile, medical and media sources said today that they found out that Dr. Mu'hammed Matar, an orthopedic specialist at the Indonesian Hospital, had been martyred several days ago along with three of his children, while his wife and two of his kids were injured when the Israeli army fired artillery projectiles and live bullets directly at his house in Al-Saftawi neighborhood in northern Gaza.

The sources added that the Israeli occupation army kidnaped Matar’s wounded kids, 5-year-old Fatima and 10-year-old A'hmed, and later handed them over to a Red Cross crew at the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Dair Al-Bala'h.

Dozens of casualties were also reported following Israeli attacks on other areas of Gaza last night and today. 

Palestinian Civilians killed and injured in Israeli airstrikes on areas in Gaza

GAZA, Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) –

15 Palestinian civilians were Monday evening killed and others were injured, most of them women and children in an Israeli bombing of a house in Dair El-Bala'h, in the central Gaza Strip.

A number of civilians were also killed and others were injured in an Israeli raid on a house in the Nusayrat camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. A number of citizens were also injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted the center of the city of Khan Younus in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this evening, seven civilians were killed and others were injured in an Israeli bombing of two homes in Dair Al-Bala'h.

Nine civilians were also killed and dozens were injured, as a result of the continued Israeli bombing of Khan Younus since this morning.

More than 21,822 Palestinians were killed and 56,451 others were injured, most of them children and women, in addition to thousands of missing people, in the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 87th day.

K.T.

At least 21 Palestinian killed, dozens wounded in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip

GAZA, Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) –

At least 21 Palestinian were killed and dozens were injured today as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombing of several areas in the Gaza Strip.

In Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 15 people were killed and dozens were injured as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted civilian homes.

In Beer Al-Naja area, west of Jabalya, six people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on several homes.

Several people were also injured as a result of Israeli artillery shelling on the town of Al-Zawayida in the central Gaza Strip, and airstrikes on Ju'hr al-Deek and the southern neighborhoods of Gaza City.

Violent Israeli artillery shelling targeted areas north of Gaza City and the camps in the central areas.

More than 21,822 Palestinians were killed and 56,451 others were injured, most of them children and women, in addition to thousands of missing people, in the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 87th day.

M.K. 

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Day 86 of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza: Israeli Missiles kill Dozens, Injure Hundreds of Palestinian civilians

 IMEMC, DEC 31, 2023

 On Sunday, December 31, 2023, Day 86 of the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israeli missiles and shells killed dozens, including a journalist, and a medic, and injured hundreds in several parts of the coastal enclave.

In Gaza City, Israeli army sharpshooters killed five Palestinians in the Shaikh Radhwan neighborhood, while the army also fired missiles and shells and many homes and buildings.

Although the Israeli tanks withdrew from large areas of Shaikh Radhwan, the Palestinians were unable to retrieve the dead and the wounded due to Israeli sharpshooters in nearby areas and Israeli military drones that continued to fire missiles on anyone trying to reach the western areas of the neighborhood.

In addition, a Palestinian journalist, Nirmeen 'Habboush, was killed along with her baby and her mother when the army fired a missile at their home in Gaza, bringing the number of slain journalists to 106.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its fighters killed and injured at least twenty soldiers in the Shaikh Radhwan neighborhood and destroyed a Merkava Israeli tank in the Shaikh 'Ijleen area.

The soldiers also detonated many homes in the Saftawi area, north of Gaza City, while trying to advance deeper into the city.

Furthermore, Israeli missiles killed Dr. Sa’eed Al-Zubda, the president of the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza, along with his wife and children, in their homes in Gaza.

Also in Gaza City, an Israeli missile struck a home for the Isleem family near Abdullah 'Azzam Mosque in the Sabra neighborhood, south of the city, killing dozens of Palestinians and burying at least 40 under the rubble.

The Israeli army fired missiles at three mosques, Al-Muhajireen and the Sa'haba Mosque in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, and the Al-Furqan Mosque in Dair El-Bala'h, in central Gaza, killing and wounding many Palestinians.

Furthermore, medical sources have confirmed that the Israeli army killed Shaikh Yousuf Salama, an Imam and the former Minister of Waqf and Islamic Endowment and the former Khatib of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and injured several members of his family after firing a missile at his home in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.

The Israeli missiles and shells also killed and injured several Palestinians in two homes for the Qandeel and Abu Shi'hada families in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp; the army also bombed a charitable society in the refugee camp.

In the Zawayida area in central Gaza, an Israeli missile killed thirteen Palestinians and wounded many, largely women and children, in a home for the Jumu’a family.

In addition, several Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli air strike east of Dair El-Bala'h.

Furthermore, the Israeli army fired barrages of missiles and artillery shells at homes and buildings east of the Al-Buraij refugee camp and the Nusayrat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing and wounding many Palestinians.

At least 64 Palestinians have been confirmed dead, and more than 186 injured by Israeli missiles in the Central District, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

One of the slain Palestinians in the Nusayrat refugee camp is a medic, who was killed and another medic who was with him was injured, when the army targeted ambulances and medics trying to rescue wounded Palestinians.

Despite the intensity of the Israeli bombing of Al-Buraij by land and air and the massive destruction, Palestinian resistance fighters continued to exchange fire with the soldiers and managed to destroy several Israeli tanks and armored vehicles.

It is worth mentioning that, on Saturday evening, Israeli missiles and shells killed twenty-five Palestinians and injured dozens in Nusayrat, Al-Maghazi, and the Zawayida area.

In addition, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a home for the Tahrawi family, west of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli navy killed one Palestinian near the shore of Rafa'h City.

In Khan Younus, in southern Gaza, Israeli artillery shells killed at least ten Palestinians and injured many others in a school where dozens of families sheltered in Khan Younus refugee camp.

In related news, a medical source told Al-Jazeera that Israeli missiles and shells have killed 64 Palestinians and injured 186 in just one day in several parts of the Central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army said two senior commanders of the Golani and the Givati Brigades were killed in gun battles in northern Gaza.

The officially declared number of Israeli soldiers and commanders who were killed since October 7 is 504, including 176 since the beginning of the ground offensive on Gaza on October 27.

Despite the massive civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and the entire obliterated families, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli army is “operating with mortality,” vowed to “wipe Hamas out,” and criticized South Africa for filing a case with the International Criminal Court, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Ziyad Nakhalah, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, said there would be no prisoner-swap agreements with the Israeli occupation as long as Israel’s onslaught is ongoing and added that the resistance factions in Gaza are strong and capable of continuing the struggle.

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said the army tried to free of the captured soldiers, but ended up killing him, and the soldiers were unable to take his corpse, and added that its fighters also managed to take various sorts of weapons, a laptop and military gear the soldiers left behind while running away.

Israel has now killed more than 21.672 Palestinians and injured 56.165, in addition to the thousands of Palestinians who remain missing, largely buried under the rubble of bombarded homes and buildings. %70 of the casualties of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza are women and children.

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Killing and Injuring of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces

Youth shot and injured by Israeli occupation army's live bullets east of Jerusalem

 JERUSALEM, Sunday, December 31. 2023 (WAFA) –

A Palestinian young man was shot and injured tonight by Israeli occupation forces’ live fire near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'ali Adumim in the town of Al-'Aizariya and Al-Khan Al-A'hmer, in Al-Quds (occupied east of Jerusalem).

No further information was provided regarding his identity, the status of the injury and his fate.

T.R.

Palestinian youth injured, man in his 60s and his son detained in Israeli army incursion into Hebron area

HEBRON, Sunday, December 31, 2023 (WAFA) -

A Palestinian youth was injured by Israeli forces’ live bullets, while a man in his 60s, along with his son, were detained during an Israeli military incursion tonight into the town of Bani Na’eem, east of Al-Khaleel (Hebron).

Security sources reported that forces stormed the town of Bani Na'eem, triggering confrontations with residents, during which a young man was injured by live bullets in the foot and transferred to the hospital for treatment.

Sources added that forces also detained a 62-year-old man and his son after raiding and searching several homes in the area.

T.R.

Jerusalem governorate issues report on Israeli violations against Maqdisis (Jerusalemites) in 2023

 Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem),  Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) –

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) Governorate issued its annual report on the crimes and violations of the Israeli occupation in the occupied capital during the past year, 2023.

The governorate explained in the annual report issued by the Public Relations Unit that the attacks by the occupation authorities and their colonialists are continuing, under the right-wing occupation government, which is implementing an extremist program aimed at annexation, displacement, Judaization, seizing lands, and deepening colonialism and apartheid.

51 Jerusalemites were killed

During the past year, 51 Maqdisi (Jerusalemite) citizens, including 20 children, were killed, in addition to 13 Jerusalemites who were killed in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip, and 7 others were killed on the territory of the occupied capital from other governorates.

Illegal settler attacks

During the year 2023, the Jerusalem Governorate monitored about 224 attacks by colonists, including 50 attacks involving physical abuse.

During the same year, the Jerusalem Governorate monitored injuries resulting from the use of excessive force by the Israeli occupation forces against Jerusalemites in various parts of the occupied capital. 543 injuries were also monitored as a result of live and rubber-coated metal bullets and severe beatings by the occupation forces, in addition to hundreds of cases of gas suffocation.

Crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque

55,158 illegal Israeli settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, with heavy protection from heavily armed special occupation forces, during the past year.

Detentions

During the year 2023, about 3,081 cases of detention of citizens were monitored in all areas of the Jerusalem Governorate, and among the detainees were 318 children and 135 women.

K.T. 

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Abduction of Palestinians by Israeli Occupation Regime Soldiers

The Israeli occupation forces detained 32 Palestinians, including the mother of an alleged attacker

RAMALLAH, Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) –

The Israeli occupation forces detained last night and this morning 32 Palestinians, including the mother of a Palestinian killed by its forces after an alleged attack, today said Palestinian prisoners’ groups.

They said the forces detained at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir the mother of A'hmed 'Ulayyan, killed by soldiers last week following an alleged stabbing attack at a checkpoint south of Jerusalem.

Another woman was detained among 12 other people in the village of Qatana, in the Jerusalem district. The woman was detained as a hostage to have her sons turn themselves over to the army, said the groups. Most of the detainees were later released following interrogation at the location.

Detentions were also reported in the West Bank governorates of Nablus, Al-Khaleel (Hebron), Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), Tulkarm and Ramallah, which brings the total detained by the Israeli army since October 7 to 4910, according to the prisoners’ groups.

M.K. 

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Aggression and Attacks by Illegal Israeli Settlers and Soldiers

Israeli occupation forces demolish structures near Qalqilya

QALQILYA,  Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) – 

Israeli occupation forces Monday demolished two agricultural and industrial rooms and a wall on the lands of the village of Nabi Elias, east of Qalqilya.

Local sources told WAFA that the occupation forces demolished, in the northern area of the village, an agricultural room with an area of 24 square meters located on a land area of half a dunum.

The occupation forces also demolished the fence that surrounded the land and was approximately two meters high. The occupation also demolished an industrial room with an area of approximately 200 square meters, under the pretext that it was built without a permit.

K.T.

Illegal Israeli settlers attack house near Hebron

HEBRON, Monday, January 1, 2024 (WAFA) –

Illegal Israeli settlers Monday attacked a house in the Taibe neighborhood, west of Hebron.

The owner of the house, Ali Asila, told WAFA that the illegal settlers attacked his house, that is a brick hut, which he used as a residence during the summer, and smashed its windows and interior belongings, and wreaked havoc on its contents.

K.T.

Illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinian residents and shepherds in Masafir Yatta south of Al-Khaleel (Hebron)

HEBRON, Sunday, December 31, 2023 (WAFA) –

 Illegal Israeli settlers tonight attacked Palestinian citizens in the Masafir Yatta area, south of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, according to a local official.

Head of the Masafir Yatta village council, Nidal Younus, said that colonists dressed in army clothing attacked resident Ma'hmoud 'Eisa Mu'hammed while he was herding his sheep, and Malik Mahir Mu'hammed in Khirbit Janba, and led them to an interrogation and detention center after handcuffing and blindfolding them.

He added that the occupation forces forced resident Mu'hammed Al-Jabbareen to tear down the metal roof of his residential structure in the Sha'b Al-Batam, east of Yatta. This brick-made home was subjected to several attacks by the illegal settlers and was demolished numerously.

Colonists also attacked and chased after Palestinian shepherds while they were grazing their sheep in Wadi Al-Jawaya and Khillit Al-'Adthra areas, while an armed colonist attacked citizens’ sheep in the Khirbit Touba area.

The official stressed that forces and colonists have escalated their attacks on citizens and their property in the Masafir Yatta area, including detentions, demolition of homes, and causing damage to projects and water wells to control more lands for the benefit of colonial expansion.

He pointed out that all communities in Masafir Yatta have formed guard committees in light of the escalated colonists’ attacks, which are carried out under the protection of the occupation forces.

T.R. 

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