Israel’s War on Palestine, Day 94: Israeli forces kill four-year-old girl in occupied West Bank; Gaza’s children face brunt of the genocide. 

Ten children in Gaza are losing a limb every day in Gaza to Israeli airstrikes, as Israeli politicians say the Gaza onslaught will last at least another nine months.

Casualties 

  • 23,084+ killed* and at least 58,926 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
  • 381 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
  • Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
  • 510 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 2,193 injured.

*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on January 8. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has been unable to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 30,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.

Key Developments 

  • Israeli soldiers shoot dead 4-year-old girl at military checkpoint in occupied West Bank
  • Israeli military says the war on Gaza could last more than nine months. 
  • Save the Children: Over ten children lose limbs a day in Gaza. 
  • The Israeli army forces Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to evacuate and abandon sick patients. 
  • Doctors Without Borders: Israel appears to have directly targeted deceased Al Jazeera journalist Hamza Dahdouh after “a single rocket” hit his car.  
  • Palestinian Ministry of Health: 249 Palestinians killed and 510 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza over 24 hours.
  • Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor: “Systematic torture and inhumane treatment” of Palestinians detained in Israeli army camps.
  • US Senator blames Israel’s ‘political decisions’ for the inadequate amount of aid reaching Gaza.
  • Israeli military announces it “dismantled” Hamas’s military framework in northern Gaza, however, reports show that Israeli forces still face resistance from Hamas fighters in northern parts of the Strip.

Israel’s Genocide War in Gaza Continues

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said yesterday that it has “completed the dismantling of Hamas’ military framework” in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF spokesperson added that while there may be Hamas members operating in the region, “they now operate without a framework and without commanders.” Jordana Miller reports for ABC News.

Israel vows to use different tactics in central and southern Gaza based on lessons “learned from the fighting so far,” the chief spokesperson for the IDF has said. He did not provide details on what specifically would change.. Isabel Kershner, Vivian Yee, and Ameera Harouda report for the New York Times.

Israeli forces have killed at least 10 fighters in Khan Younis, the IDF said today in a statement. The IDF added that it struck 30 targets in the city, including underground targets, and located a tunnel shaft and weaponry in an agricultural area of the central Gaza Strip. Mithil Aggarwal reports for NBC News.

The World Health Organization (WHO) canceled its plans yesterday to deliver aid supplies to Gaza after failing to receive security guarantees. “Heavy bombardment, movement restrictions, and interrupted communications are making it nearly impossible to deliver medical supplies regularly and safely across Gaza,” the WHO said. The delivery planned for yesterday was designed to sustain five hospitals in the northern part of the enclave. Reuters reports.

The International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestine said yesterday that they were “forced to withdraw and cease activities” at Gaza’s Al Aqsa hospital “as a result of increasing Israeli military activity” around the hospital. The IDF has dropped leaflets designating areas around the hospital as a “red zone,” the organizations added. Zoe Magee reports for ABC News.

Israel named its former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as its addition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) panel  due to hear the genocide case filed against it, an Israeli official said yesterday. Under ICJ rules, a state without a judge of its nationality on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to sit in their case. Reuters reports.

Reports have emerged that dozens were killed in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza yesterday. Footage shows bodies lying in the rubble of a destroyed building, many of whom were women and children. When asked, the IDF said it “acted against a military target” and is “not aware of the number of casualties mentioned.” BBC Newsreports.

At least nine Palestinianswere killed yesterday as violence surges in the occupied West Bank. An Israeli drone strike killed seven Palestinian men at Jenin, and an eighth man was killed by Israeli soldiers in central West Bank. The young child was killed by errant fire as officers “neutralized” occupants of a car at a border checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli police said in a statement. Isabel Kershner reports for the New York Times.

More than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Save the Children charity said yesterday, referencing previous comments from a UNICEF spokesperson. Jessie Yeung, Radina Gigova, and Mohammed Tawfeeq report for CNN.

U.S. RESPONSE

Palestinians must not be pressured into leaving Gaza and must be allowed to return to their homes once conditions permit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday  during an ongoing trip in the  Middle East. The statement follows comments by some Israeli ministers and lawmakers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. Blinken also told reporters in Qatar that the Israel-Hamas war “could easily metastasize” beyond Gaza due to  rising regional tensions. George Wright reports for BBC News.

A new U.S. intelligence assessment found that it would be difficult for Israel to succeed in a war against the Hezbollah group in Lebanon due to the war in Gaza. The assessment, by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, follows comments by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said, “We prefer the path of an agreed-upon diplomatic settlement … but we are getting close to that point where the hourglass will turn over.” Biden administration officials added that the President has dispatched top aides to the Middle East in attempts to prevent the war widening. John Hudson, Yasmeen Abutaleb, and Shane Harris report for the Washington Post.

Hundreds of trucks have been waiting for weeks to enter Gaza at Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, where a warehouse is holding rejected supplies including water, oxygen, and medical testing kits, two U.S. senators said on Saturday after visiting the border. The reasons for rejection by Israeli officials are “very vague … sometimes they were very unreasonable,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) added, and the warehouse is a “testament to the arbitrariness” of the process, said Sen. Van Hollen (D-MD). Both senators sit on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and are drawing up recommendations for changes. Lee Keath reports for AP News.

Israel’s talk of expanding war to Lebanon alarms U.S.
 
An American intelligence assessment found that it would be difficult for Israel to succeed in a war against Hezbollah amid ongoing fighting in Gaza

Biden is worried Israel will start a war with Lebanon. He’s been on the phone “up to three times a day” with Israeli officials trying to stop them. But if he REALLY wants to stop this, why does he ship more weapons to Israel that US officials fear Israel will use in a campaign against Lebanon?

IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group struck an air traffic control base in northern Israel, the IDF said yesterday. No damage or injuries were reported. Julia Frankel, Samy Magdy, and Najib Jobain report for AP News.

Lebanon’s Beirut airport was hacked yesterday by domestic anti-Hezbollah groups who replaced the departure and arrival board with a message accusing Hezbollah of risking war with Israel. “Hassan Nasrallah, you will no longer have supporters if you curse Lebanon with a war for which you will bear responsibility and consequences,” the message read. AP News reports.

A senior Hezbollah commander was killed by an Israeli airstrike today in southern Lebanon. BBC News reports.

MIDEAST CRISIS PUTS ANTI-ISIS MISSION AT RISK
Bottom Line Up Front:
* Iran-backed groups in Iraq have contributed to Hamas’ battle against Israel by attacking U.S. forces that continue to lead a broad coalition effort to defeat the Islamic State organization (ISIS).
* U.S. retaliatory attacks on Iraqi militia facilities and leaders are increasing pressure on the Baghdad government to expel U.S. troops.
* A withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq would accomplish a key Iranian objective that long predates the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
* The political influence of Iran and Iranian allies was strengthened by the strong showing of pro-Iranian politicians in December 18 provincial council elections.

Mossad chief’s warning: Israeli Spy’s Warning:

 

Tamir Pardo, a former director of Mossad, warned Israelis that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extremist” government threatens to destroy the strategic relationship with the United States. In a column on the website of Israel’s Keshet 12 TV channel, Pardo writes, “The great risk for the State of Israel is that, for the first time, Israel may run into a head-on collision with a supreme American national security interest. This irresponsible conduct of the Israeli government and its leader could lead to an existential threat to the Jewish state and also to the Jews of the Diaspora.” Pardo, who has been a strong critic of Netanyahu after he ran the Mossad from 2011 to 2016, says there are clear signs of this looming strategic divorce, and Israelis should take them to heart. “Woe to us if, one morning, the Pentagon and the State Department came out with a statement to Congress and the White House in which it was said that Israel ceased to be an asset to the United States and became a strategic burden!”

Editorial | Arming and Mobilizing Settlers Must Stop to End Violence Against West Bank Palestinians

The decision to arm and mobilize thousands of settlers for military service in the occupied territories, and to station them where they live, and in close proximity to Palestinians, some of whom they know and hate, seemed at first an irresponsible decision by Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, head of the army’s Central Command. 

Israel’s recipe for more settler violence: arming and mobilizing “thousands of settlers for military service in the occupied territories,” and stationing “them where they live, and in close proximity to Palestinians, some of whom they know and hate.”

GAZA: MORE THAN 10 CHILDREN A DAY LOSE A LIMB IN THREE MONTHS OF BRUTAL CONFLICT

More than 10 children per day, on average, have lost one or both of their legs in Gaza since conflict erupted three months ago, said Save the Children.

Since 7 October, more than 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated, according to UNICEF. Many of these operations on children were done without anaesthetic, with the healthcare system in Gaza crippled by the conflict, and major shortages of doctors and nurses, and medical supplies like anaesthesia and antibiotics, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

WE STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH CHILDREN IN THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST PLACES.

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While 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, they are operating on a partial and fluctuating basis, dependent on their access to fuel and basic medical supplies on any given day. The nine partially functional hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity, while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel. In addition, only 30% of Gaza’s pre-conflict medicsare still working, according to the WHO.

KenRoth (@Kenneth Roth) posted: “This is utterly appalling: “More than 10 children per day, on average, have lost one or both of their legs in Gaza since conflict erupted three months ago, said Save the Children.” And Israel claims it is precisely targeting Hamas.”

Gallant’s post-war Gaza plan: Palestinians to run civil affairs with global task force.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday laid out a four-pronged plan for how Gaza could be governed after the war. While it is the first time a senior Israeli official has laid out such a vision, it does not represent official policy.

Under the plan, Hamas would no longer control Gaza. Israel would maintain military operational freedom, but there would be no Israeli civilian presence there.

The plan suggests that a U.S.-led international task force would be responsible for rebuilding Gaza. It says local Palestinian bodies would control civil affairs, and there would be roles for Egypt and other moderate Arab states.

The plan does not mention the Palestinian Authority, the body that has powers in the occupied West Bank.

Martin Indyk  Martin S. Indyk is the Lowy distinguished fellow in U.S.-Middle East diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. 

@Martin_Indyk take on Gallant’s concept is posted on 6 posts on  X, see below:

1/6 Gallant’s plan is not yet fully articulated or embraced by Netanyahu, let alone his cabinet. But it is most likely to prevail because it represents the IDF’s needs.

2/6 There is inherent tension in Israel taking overall security responsibility for itself and handing over security responsibility to a U.S.-led multinational police force which will not be willing to be sub-contractors to the IDF. As of now, there is no such force being constituted and no willingness of any Arab state to participate.

3/6 Working with Egypt to prevent smuggling of arms into Gaza from Sinai is a noble objective but it didn’t work before and is unlikely to work now because there’s too much money to be made in smuggling.

4/6 By looking to local administrators and bureaucrats to run civil affairs in Gaza, Gallant has knowingly opened the way to a return of the Palestinian Authority. Many of those workers are already on the PA payroll; others worked for Hamas but will need a new paymaster; Arab states will not contribute the money for salaries unless it is handled by the PA.

5/6 Slowly but surely, Netanyahu’s bluster and grandiosity is giving way to the practical needs of a day after policy which Israel cannot meet without the support and cooperation of the United States and the international community.

/6 Notwithstanding his opposition to the PA, I believe the next thing Netanyahu will do is find a way to hand over to Blinken the $75m of PA money that Smotrich is withholding, thereby helping to prevent the financial collapse of the PA. Watch for a package deal in which Abu Mazen appoints a new technocratic PM and prisoner payments are reformed, paving the way for Biden’s “Revitalized PA” to start picking up the pieces in Gaza.

 

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