CAIRO: The army issued new evacuation orders in the southern part of the small enclave after Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, the majority of whom were in the northern border town of Beit Lahiya, according to medics.
According to medics, four individuals were murdered elsewhere in Gaza City and eight people were killed in a series of airstrikes in Beit Lahiya.
Later, in the northern coastal enclave of Jabalia, the biggest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, an Israeli airstrike killed two people and injured others, according to medical officials.
Medics reported that three women were murdered by Israeli drone fire near Rafah, in the far south, and that another airstrike on the Al-Falah School, which was providing shelter to displaced families in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, killed six people and injured others.
In Gaza, the death toll rises to 44,502, with 105,454 injured.
Israeli attacks on their teams and fuel shortages have caused the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service to cease operations in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun for almost four weeks.
13 out of 27 vehicles in central and southern Gaza were also reported to be stopped due to a shortage of fuel on Tuesday. According to the report, Israel has murdered 88 Civil Emergency Service members, injured 304, and arrested 21 since the conflict started in October 2023.
Gaza’s health ministry reported on Tuesday that since Israel began its military attack on October 7, 2023, at least 44,502 Palestinians have been dead and 105,454 injured.
Orders for evacuation
Citing rocket fire from terrorists in the northern sections of the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis, the Israeli army ordered residents to evacuate on Tuesday. Families hurriedly fled westward, generally before daybreak, in response to the orders, the most recent of many.
In a statement on X, the army stated, “You must leave the area right away and relocate to the humanitarian zone for your own safety.”
Hamas-Fatah accord
In the meantime, mediators from both sides said on Tuesday that Hamas and Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, had decided to form a committee to jointly run Gaza after the battle.
According to a copy of the proposal seen by AFP, the committee would consist of 10 to 15 nonpartisan individuals with power on issues pertaining to the economy, education, health, humanitarian relief, and reconstruction under the plan, which requires Mr. Abbas’s approval.
The two opposing Palestinian movements decided that the committee would oversee the Palestinian side of the Rafah border with Egypt, the only one in the territory that is not shared with Israel, after negotiations mediated by Egypt in Cairo.
On condition of anonymity, the negotiators stated that Fatah’s delegation, headed by Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the central party committee, was expected to return to Ramallah on Tuesday in order to obtain Mr. Abbas’s final consent. Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas politburo, led the trip.
Israeli politicians praise Trump’s promise.
Israeli officials praised US President-elect Donald Trump’s promise on Tuesday that if detainees detained in the Gaza Strip are not freed before his inauguration on January 20, there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East.
Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that the detainees must be released by the time he takes office, without mentioning any specific organization.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” he declared, if his demand was not fulfilled.
Trump’s scathing remarks were openly praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his ministers.
At the beginning of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu stated, “President Trump placed the emphasis in the right place, on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary (elsewhere).”
