Palestinians listen for sounds coming from possible survivors of an Israeli strike on a mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 24, 2024. (Photo by Reuters)
Gaza City, January 27 (RHC)-- The Israeli military has intensified its bombardment campaign in the Gaza Strip, even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the Tel Aviv regime to take steps aimed at preventing acts of genocide against Palestinians in the besieged coastal sliver.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources, reported on Saturday that a number of dead bodies and wounded individuals arrived at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, one of the last functioning medical facilities in the territory, following intense Israeli airstrikes targeting several homes in Deir al-Balah city.
At least nine civilians, including women, were further killed when Israeli warplanes shelled multiple homes in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza. Earlier in the day, two people were killed and others were wounded when Israeli fighter jets struck a house in the al-Geneina neighborhood, east of Rafah. Furthermore, at least 28 civilians were killed and several others wounded as a result of the ongoing Israeli shelling of the city of Khan Younis.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 183 Palestinians have lost their lives and another 377 sustained injuries as a result of Israeli military offensives in the enclave over the past 24 hours.
The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, announced in a brief statement that its fighters had targeted an Israeli armored personnel carrier with a Yassin 105 anti-armor missile in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military also asserted that its aircraft, tanks and infantry troops had killed at least 11 Palestinian fighters over the past 24 hours in battles in Khan Younis. The forces targeted fighters who were trying to plant explosives near troops and others firing rifles and rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers, a statement from the Israeli military asserted.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said an immediate ceasefire is “the only way” to implement the ICJ interim ruling. It condemned the “continuation of the ongoing genocidal war against our people” in a statement, which it said shows “Israeli determination to complete the destruction of the Gaza Strip”.
It also highlighted the fact that not a single high-ranking Israeli official promised to abide by the ruling, and top officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu, promised to continue the war, effectively undermining the ruling.
The ICJ order for Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has renewed calls for the suspension of weapons transfers to the occupying Tel Aviv regime.
Israel launched hostilities in Gaza following an historic operation by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. More than 100 days into the campaign, the regime has achieved no objectives despite killing at least 26,083 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women and children.
