From the evening of December 24 to the early morning of December 25, local time, Israeli airstrikes on the Maighazzi refugee camp and other places in central Gaza were called the "Christmas Eve massacre" by foreign media. According to the US media "New York Times" and "Times of Israel", a few hours after the "massacre" ended, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the front line in northern Gaza to comfort the soldiers, and in the face of a large number of soldiers and civilian casualties, he still insisted that he would "fight to the end".
However, Netanyahu's insistence on fighting regardless of the safety of the hostages has aroused the dissatisfaction of the families of the Israeli hostages. Later that day, Netanyahu, who had returned from Gaza, attended a parliamentary session and was booed by the hostages' families as he spoke.
Netanyahu came to northern Gaza on the 25th to express condolences to the soldiers, the picture is from Netanyahu's Twitter
According to the report, on the 25th local time, Netanyahu came to northern Gaza to comfort the soldiers, and listened to the progress of the war reported by the on-site commander of the Israel Defense Forces, as well as a large number of ammunition and tunnels found by the army in the area. This is his second visit to the Gaza Strip since the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
According to a statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu told the soldiers present: "I have two things to say: first, we will do everything we can to keep you safe, we want to [accomplish] this mission, we want to protect you as much as possible, and we will not stop fighting...... The battle will continue until the end until we complete the mission. He added that "it will be a long battle and it is far from over."
Later that day, Netanyahu, who had returned from Gaza, attended a special session of the Knesset and delivered a speech in which he said Israel was making "every effort" to bring home the hostages held in Gaza, while stressing that it would take "military pressure" to succeed. "Without military pressure, we could not have succeeded in rescuing all the hostages, and we would not have stopped fighting," he said. ”
Before Netanyahu could finish his speech, a family member of a hostage who was sitting in parliament shouted, "We don't have time." Later, more family members of the hostages began chanting, "now", "now", "now", demanding that Netanyahu's government should immediately try to free the hostages.
In response, Netanyahu argued that he was trying everything he could, including personally contacting the leaders of countries such as Russia, and that his wife had also contacted Pope Francis directly. But his explanation was met with boos from the hostages' families.
On the evening of the 25th, the US media "Wall Street Journal" published a signed article by Netanyahu entitled "A prerequisite for peace". The article stresses that the Israeli army's purpose is to "destroy Hamas, demilitarize Gaza, and deradicalize the entire Palestinian society." But The Times of Israel notes that Netanyahu did not mention the issue of hostages, nor did he make the release of hostages a "prerequisite for peace."
The hostage's family members protested loudly as Netanyahu spoke, holding up photos of the hostages and signs that read "What if it's your daughter." Screenshot of the Knesset video
On 7 October, Hamas launched attacks on many parts of Israel and took a large number of Israeli hostages. On November 22, local time, Israel and Hamas finally reached a temporary ceasefire agreement of "hostage-for-ceasefire". Since 24 November, Hamas has released a total of 108 hostages. So far, Hamas has taken 129 hostages in the Gaza Strip, but not all of them are alive, according to Israel.
Nearly three months into the new Israeli-Palestinian conflict, more than 20,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, most of them women and children. Reuters said that after the end of the week-long truce agreement earlier this month, the Israeli army has stepped up ground and air offensives, and the fighting has spread from northern Gaza to the whole of Gaza, while ceasefire talks have reached a stalemate.
Despite international pressure, U.S. and Western allies, and domestic pressure, Israel's government of Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on expanding the war in the Gaza Strip until it achieves a "complete victory." As the fighting became increasingly severe, on the 24th local time, a spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, an armed faction affiliated with Hamas, said that in the past four days, the group had killed at least 48 Israeli soldiers.
Just a few hours before Netanyahu's visit to northern Gaza, from the evening of December 24 to the early morning of December 25 local time, Israel carried out "fierce and intensive" air strikes on the Maghazzi refugee camp and other places in the central Gaza Strip. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, at least 70 people were killed in the airstrikes, and the exact number of casualties is far from certain given the large number of bodies of victims and survivors trapped under the rubble.
Medical personnel are rescuing the injured, screenshot of the video
On December 24, Christmas Eve, Christians begin the celebration of Christmas Eve. Al Jazeera criticized Israeli airstrikes under the headline "Christmas Eve massacre". Reuters called it "one of the deadliest single attacks" launched by Israel during the current round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Pope Francis, who was presiding over Mass, also condemned it that night.
The Maighazi refugee camp, located in central Gaza, was very densely populated in the early stages of the war when it received a large number of civilians evacuated from northern Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, Israel has carried out very systematic air strikes in recent days with the aim of "forcing the local population to continue to evacuate to the south".
Dozens of bodies piled up outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital near the camp after the attack on the Megazi refugee camp, a video circulated on social media showed 68 members of the same family killed in an Israeli airstrike. Al Jazeera said the authenticity of the video had been verified by its reporters.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on the 25th: "The terrible atrocities committed by the Zionist regime on Christmas Eve have exposed the fact that this entity does not abide by any sacred, religious and international principles. ”
Save the Children, an international aid organization, issued a statement strongly condemning it, saying that the Israeli airstrike on the Megazi refugee camp was "another episode of continued terror" in Gaza. "Families and children should not be military targets and must be protected," the statement said. We need an immediate and final ceasefire. ”
This article is an exclusive manuscript of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.