The Hamas-run health ministry on Monday (December 25, 2023) said at least 70 people have been killed in an Israeli attack at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
The ministry alleged that the attack took place on Sunday (December 24, 2023).
A video posted by the Palestinian Red Crescent shows several wounded people from the camp being taken into ambulances, reported CNN.
“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra said in a Telegram post on the ministry’s account as quoted by CNN.
In response to a CNN inquiry, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had received reports of an incident at the camp, which it was reviewing.
“Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law, including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians,” the IDF said.
IDF recovers bodies of five hostages
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces has said it recovered the bodies of five hostages who were killed during Hamas captivity.
The IDF also released a video of a Hamas tunnel network on the social media platform X.
In an X post, the IDF said: “In a centralized intelligence effort, IDF troops located and recovered the bodies of 5 hostages—abducted during the October 7 Massacre.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed hope that a Security Council resolution to get more aid into Gaza, adopted on Friday (December 22, 2023), could pave the way to a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Guterres was speaking at a press briefing at UN Headquarters shortly after the 15-member Council passed the resolution following days of negotiation.
He outlined devastation that includes more than 20,000 Palestinians reportedly killed and 1.9 million people, 85 percent of the population, forced to flee their homes.
Gaza’s health system is on its knees, clean water is at a trickle and the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of the threat of widespread famine.
“A humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare,” he said.
“I hope that today’s Security Council Resolution may help this finally to happen but much more is needed immediately,” he added.