Flames and smoke plumes rise after the Israeli occupation army bombed two houses near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah (French)

The number of martyrs of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip rose today to 20,<> martyrs, and the occupation army continued its raids and intensive bombardment of various areas of the Strip, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the shelling will continue "with huge fire until the elimination of Hamas."

According to the government media office in Gaza, the number of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza reached 20,8 martyrs, including 6200,52 children and 600,<> women, while the number of wounded rose to <>,<>.

Mass burial of a number of martyrs who fell in the Israeli aggression on Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip (Anatolia)

No safe zones

Various areas of the Gaza Strip witnessed intensive Israeli raids and shelling from Jabalia and Gaza City in the north to Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, resulting in dozens of martyrs and injuries.

A number of martyrs and wounded were killed in Israeli shelling of houses in Jabalya, the number of which is not yet known, and the bodies of 70 martyrs were recovered, after the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the thirty area in Gaza City.

In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which the Israeli army claimed was safe, at least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli air strikes, and the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the recovery of 12 martyrs and dozens of wounded, including children and women, from the rubble.

Al Jazeera's correspondent said Israeli shelling targeted two houses and a mosque near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah. While Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud was providing information about the Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip in a live broadcast, an explosion was heard in the area and plumes of smoke began to rise near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.

Seconds after the first attack, there were at least three more airstrikes in the same area, and the footage showed panic among Palestinian civilians and children were seen running left and right amid the sounds of explosions.

Eyewitnesses in the city reported more than 10 consecutive airstrikes hitting several homes, with footage showing plumes of thick smoke, bodies lying on the ground, people calling for ambulances and others trying to rescue those under the rubble.

The Israeli occupation army also bombed the Shaboura camp in the city of Rafah, which borders Egypt, where tens of thousands of Palestinians who were displaced from areas in the northern Gaza Strip are gathering in light of the fighting.

The Israeli occupation army announced that it was "expanding and deepening its operations" in Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip, and that it had carried out more than 300 raids. He said he had carried out "land, air and sea operations against dozens of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure", including rocket launch sites and command and control centres in Khan Younis.

Part of the destruction caused by the Israeli raids on the city of Rafah (French)

Netanyahu vows to continue aggression

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that his government will continue the war on the Gaza Strip "until the end," and said in a statement today, "We continue the war until the end, the war will continue until the elimination of Hamas, until victory is achieved."

"Whoever thinks that we will stop is delusional and has nothing to do with reality, we will not stop the fighting, until we achieve all the goals we have set: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our abductors and the removal of the threat posed by Gaza," Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas leaders, "They have only two options: surrender or die."

Israeli reports have indicated contacts to explore opportunities for a new humanitarian truce deal that would include an exchange of Israeli prisoners in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians from Israeli jails.

On the other hand, a source close to Hamas said that "the main entry point to discuss anything is a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip to enter into serious negotiations to complete a prisoner exchange deal."

A week-long temporary truce between Israel and Hamas ended in early December, during which prisoners and detainees were exchanged between the two sides, and little relief aid and limited fuel were brought into the Strip.

Since October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which has left 20,52 martyrs and wounded to 600,<>, most of them children and women, and caused massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza authorities and the United Nations.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies