Hamas fired at least 27 rockets at the south and center of Israel in a barrage timed for midnight as Israelis celebrated the start of the new year.
According to The Times of Israel, the Palestinian resistance movement launched 27 missiles. Air defense systems intercepted 18, while nine fell in open areas. Loud explosions from the intercepts boomed through the sky over Tel Aviv, where crowds of partiers celebrated the new year Sunday.
The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack from Gaza in a video published on social media, saying it had fired M90 rockets in "response to the massacres of civilians" carried out by Israel.
On Christmas Eve, Israel dropped a massive bomb on the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, killing 68 Palestinians. Days later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used emergency authority to bypass the US Congress to send $104 million in additional 155 mm artillery shells to Israel.
AFP reported on New Year’s Day that in the besieged Gaza Strip, 20-year-old Hamdan Abu Arab said he hoped "2024 will be better".
"We used to go out and enjoy our time on the last day of the year," he recalled. "But this New Year's Eve, there are only missiles and the remains of people."
🚨🇵🇸 Hamas started the New Year by giving Israel a firework show. pic.twitter.com/MwrxcNmRwO
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) December 31, 2023
At least 48 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza City over the weekend, the health ministry said, with many still buried under the rubble.
"After the explosion we arrived at the scene of the strike and saw martyrs everywhere," said one resident after a building was hit. "Children are still missing, we can't find them."
The WHO has warned of the risk of hunger and infectious disease. Gaza’s hospital system has largely collapsed, due to lack of fuel and Israeli bombing, forcing doctors to amputate limbs of victims, including children, without anesthesia.
The Grayzone goes to the scene of the Christmas Eve massacre in Maghazi Refugee Camp, which left over 70 dead in a single Israeli airstrike
— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) December 28, 2023
We speak to survivors of the attack and reveal the scale of the war crime with exclusive drone footage pic.twitter.com/84ZBOSijat
UN chief Antonio Guterres has condemned the "epic human suffering" and "collective punishment" of Palestinian civilians, where 85 percent of the population has been displaced.
"We are exhausted... We were displaced five times during this war," said 29-year-old Bassam Hana. "We hope things improve in 2024 and that we live just like any other human being. Currently, we live like animals."
