Israel’s war on Gaza: Strikes kill at least 13

Israeli strikes throughout the Gaza Strip killed at least 13 people, including five children, on January 8th, as reported by France 24 via AFP on January 9th.

This figure is from Gaza’s Civil Defence Agency, with an agency spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, saying, “The death toll has risen to 13 as a result of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since this morning in a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

The US-backed ceasefire came into effect on October 10th and stipulated that Israel must end its bombardment of Gaza and withdraw its military.

However, it was reported on December 29th that Israel had violated the ceasefire terms 969 times in an 80-day period, with violations including failure to fully withdraw and repeated airstrikes. Since October, at least 418 people have been killed by Israeli attacks.

Furthermore, Israel has refused to withdraw from Gaza and has established the “yellow line” to mark areas under Israeli control. It was reported on December 24th that Israeli forces had launched strikes along the line.

These attacks came after Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israeli forces would remain “deep inside Gaza” on December 23rd, vowing that the military “will never leave all of Gaza.”

On the same day, Katz announced plans to construct Jewish settlements in northern Gaza, despite the 2005 settler disengagement plan under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered Gaza outposts to be dismantled.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is estimated to have killed over 71,000 people since October 2023; around 17,000 of the dead are believed to be children.

Prior to October 2023, conditions in Gaza were described as “hell on earth” by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who condemned Israel’s near-constant bombardment of the enclave in 2021.

Since 2007, a land, sea and air blockade has been imposed on Gaza by Israel, leading to shortages of essential resources, including electricity supplies.

In 2019, a UN report found that around two-thirds of Gaza households were food insecure, while the blockade also caused fuel shortages, power cuts, contaminated water and crumbling infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Israeli government has enacted over 30 laws since 2023, which are designed to further entrench an apartheid system for Palestinians in the occupied territories and Israel.

These laws signal an increasingly blatant disregard for Palestinian life by Israeli officials, with some seeking to broaden the definition of terrorism, likely to make as many Palestinians as possible eligible for a proposed death penalty bill.

France 24 via AFP, Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org