Israel-Hamas war: At least 68 Palestinians ‘killed by Israeli airstrike on refugee camp in Gaza’
At least 68 Palestinians were killed following an Israeli air strike that hit a refugee camp in central Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
The deaths on Sunday (Christmas Eve) were the result of one of the bloodiest strikes since Israel declared war against Hamas following its incursion on 7 October.
The strike hit the Maghazi refugee camp, east of Deir al Balah.
It comes as the Israeli military said 15 soldiers were killed over the weekend – taking the total number of Israel Defence Force (IDF) personnel to have died in 11 weeks up to 481.
The IDF said it was reviewing the report of an airstrike in Maghazi and was committed to minimising harm to civilians.
Footage of the wounded being transported to hospitals was released by the humanitarian aid organisation, the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Palestinians wounded were brought to the hospital in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
Medics said a separate Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, killed eight Palestinians.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, Christmas celebrations were cancelled, in which tradition writes that Jesus was born.
The traditional nativity scene in Manger Square was surrounded by barbed wire and rubble.
Bethlehem’s nativity scene in Manger Square surrounded by rubble and barbed wire
Fight on until ‘total victory’
The war has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s population, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, but Israel is standing firm behind their goal of destroying Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday the war was extracting a heavy price but added: “We are doing everything to safeguard the lives of our warriors.”
He said his country’s forces are going deeper into the Gaza Strip and that they will fight on until “total victory” over Hamas and the release of the remaining 129 captives.
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But Hamas is still putting up tough resistance, evidenced by the deaths of the Israeli soldiers, four of whom were killed when their vehicle was struck by an anti-tank missile, the Israeli Army Radio said.
The IDF released further details of an operation to dismantle a network of Hamas tunnels, where the bodies of five hostages – Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, Sergeant Ron Sherman, Corporal Nik Beizer, Eden Zacharia, and Elia Toledano – were recovered.
Many Hamas fighters were killed and hundreds of weapons found, the IDF said, in what it said was the group’s northern headquarters in Gaza.
The tunnel network, which included two levels, passed beneath a school and a hospital and was connected to a shaft leading to the residence of the Commander of Hamas’ Northern Brigade, Ahmad Andur, the IDF said.
On Sunday, Islamic Jihad – a smaller group allied to Hamas – said a delegation led by its exiled leader Ziad al Nakhalah was in Egypt.
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Israel vows to continue war
His arrival followed talks attended by Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in recent days.
Both groups have said they will not discuss any release of hostages unless Israel ends its war in Gaza, while the Israelis say they are willing to discuss only a temporary pause in fighting.
It comes after the UN fell short of calling for a humanitarian ceasefire on 22 December, instead passing a resolution for increased aid to be transported into Gaza.
The US abstained from the vote, as Israel’s most powerful ally. The resolution sparked criticism from both Israel and Hamas.
Israel has said 24 hostages are alive in Gaza – after Donald Trump said there were 21.
The US president told reporters on Tuesday that three more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza had died – alarming their families.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostage issues, said the Palestinian militant group was holding 59 hostages of whom 24 were alive and 35 dead – figures unchanged since before Mr Trump‘s comments.
He said 54 of the 59 were Israeli citizens and five of them were foreign nationals.
“All families of the kidnapped are always updated with the information we have about their loved ones,” he said.
The group representing the families of hostages had asked the Israeli government to share any new information with them immediately following Mr Trump’s comments.
It argues that Israel should stop the fighting and negotiate the release of the remaining hostages.
“This is the most urgent and important national mission,” it said on a post on X.
Most of the hostages returned alive to Israel so far have been released as part of deals with Hamas during two temporary ceasefires in late 2023 and early 2025.
The most recent ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners fell apart in March.
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Hamas took 251 hostages in its attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 in which it killed 1,200 people.
Israel has responded with an air and ground assault on Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says its two war aims are to destroy Hamas and release the hostages.
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Israel announces plans for Gaza
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of its offensive on Gaza – increasing its hold on the territory, for an indefinite amount of time.
The plan includes seizing Gaza, holding on to captured territories, forcibly displacing Palestinians to southern Gaza and taking control of aid distribution along with private security companies.
Pakistan says it has been targeted in a missile attack by India.
Three missiles were fired by India across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory, said Pakistani security officials.
They hit locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to officials.
The Indian defence ministry said it had launched Operation Sindoor as it struck “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.
It said a total of nine sites were targeted.
A Pakistan military spokesman said the country will respond to the attacks.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been escalating following a militant gun attack in the disputed area of Kashmir last month.
At least 26 people, most of whom were Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen at a beauty spot near the resort town of Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled part of the region on 22 April.
India described the massacre as a “terror attack” and said it had “cross border” links, blaming Pakistan for backing it.
Pakistan denied any connection to the atrocity, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group called the Kashmir Resistance.
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24 April: Pakistani minister warns ‘all-out war’ possible
Since the attack, Pakistan’s military has been on high alert after a cabinet minister said Islamabad had credible intelligence indicating that India could attack.
And Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif told Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim that the world should be “worried” about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations.
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Friedrich Merz has become Germany’s new chancellor after winning a second vote in the country’s parliament.
He unexpectedly failed in the first parliamentary ballot on Tuesday morning – the first time a chancellor has failed to be elected at the first attempt since the Second World War.
Initially, needing a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, he received 310 – falling short by just six votes. On the second ballot he managed 325.
It means Mr Merz, the leader of the country’s CDU/CSU conservatives, has become the 10th chancellor since the end of the Second World War.
Friedrich Merz during his swearing in ceremony. Pic: Reuters
He had been expected to win comfortably after securing a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
It meant at least 18 coalition MPs failed to back him in the first round of voting.
Announcing the second vote, Jens Spahn, the head of the Union bloc in parliament, said: “The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections.”
Earlier, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, said on X that Mr Merz’s failure to secure a majority in the first round showed the “weak foundation” on which his coalition was built, adding that it had been “voted out by the voters”.
Mr Merz, 69, succeeds Olaf Scholz and has vowed to prioritise European unity and the continent’s security.
Mr Merz (R) shakes hands with outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz (L). Pic: Reuters
His in-tray includes the Ukraine war and global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent congratulations to Mr Merz and wished him “every success”.
The Ukrainian president added that the future of Europe was “at stake” and security will “depend on our unity”.
Mr Merz will also have to decide what to do about the AfD, which mainstream parties have refused to work with.
A “firewall” against collaborating with strongly right-wing parties has been in place since the end of the war.
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During federal elections in late February, the AfD scored its best-ever result while Olaf Scholz’s SPD dropped to about 16%.
The AfD is the second largest party in the lower house of the Bundestag and was officially designated as extremist last week by Germany’s domestic spy agency.
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