31 Gazans killed in Israeli strikes, 4 more killed in West Bank
Palestinian residents look at bullet holes at the location where four Palestinians were killed by Israeli army, Azoun village Near Qalqilya, occupied West Bank, Jan. 2, 2024. (EPA Photo)
by Daily Sabah with Agencies
Jan 02, 2024 11:18 am
Israel's incessant attacks on Gaza killed at least 31 Palestinians in the last 24 hours, while four more people died in the occupied West Bank Tuesday.
The Israeli army killed four Palestinians near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya, according to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA.
It added that the four Palestinians were "shot dead during confrontations" that erupted as Israeli forces stormed the town of Azzun.
Witnesses told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the Israeli army withdrew from the town after clashing with the Palestinians for a few hours.
The Israeli army also raided and searched several homes and shops in the town, the witnesses added.
Several Palestinians were also injured and arrested from a building in Azzun.
Tensions have been high across the West Bank since the Gaza conflict between Palestinian resistance groups and Israel broke out on Oct. 7
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 324 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since Oct. 7, with over 3,400 others injured.
The sun rises above the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, Jan. 1, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Gaza strikes continue
Meanwhile, at least 31 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on areas across the Gaza Strip, as the devastating onslaught enters its 88th day.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency said Tuesday that a series of Israeli airstrikes on residential areas in the city of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, killed 22 Palestinian civilians, most of them women and children.
Another Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza Strip's Nuseirat refugee camp also left several casualties among the civilians.
Other Israeli airstrikes on areas in the city of Khan Younis, south of the besieged enclave, killed at least nine Palestinians.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing over 22,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring more than 57,000 others, according to local health authorities.
Around 1,140 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
Up to 1.9 million people, or over 85% of the population, have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.