Washington: Israel launched more deadly strikes on Gaza on December 20 as the UN Security Council was due to vote on another ceasefire demand and concern mounted over the conflict’s impact on global shipping. One of Israel’s enemies, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, in recent weeks launched a spate of attacks on cargo ships and tankers in the Red Sea, leading the United States to announce a 10-nation naval coalition to protect the vessels.
Israel maintained its bombardment and ground combat in the third month of the bloodiest ever Gaza war, which started when Hamas launched their unprecedented attack on October 7. The operatives burst through the Gaza border fence, killed around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and abducted 250, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says Israel’s withering military response has killed more than 19,400 people, mostly women and children, while devastating large swathes of the coastal territory. At least 20 more people were killed overnight in strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the ministry said, bringing more suffering to the area that has become a vast camp for displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s military said its troops found explosives planted in a medical clinic in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya, destroyed Hamas tunnels and killed Hamas operatives during recent operations. The Israeli army says 131 of its troops have been killed in Gaza since it launched its ground invasion in late October.
The UN Security Council was set to convene after a one-day delay to weigh another call for a ceasefire, after a previous bid was vetoed by the United States.
