Live: Israel kills at least 58 Palestinians in 24 hours

Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas has claimed attacks on an Israeli Merkava tank, an armoured personal carrier and a quadcopter in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp.

It said its fighters targeted the vehicles with Yassin-105 rockets, and succeeded in downing the quadcopter.

Cats were seen eating the corpses of Palestinians in central Gaza amid a devastating Israeli incursion that has killed scores and blocked rescue workers from assisting victims. 

Footage posted on Sunday by local video creator Talal Mahmoud showed cats eating from bodies of Palestinians strewn on the streets near a UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

Ambulances and first responders had been unable to reach many areas under attack due to the heavy Israeli bombardment in recent days. 

The Gaza-based government media office on Monday condemned the “horrific war crimes” committed by Israeli forces in its latest ground assault on the Nuseirat camp, which local media said began on the weekend. 

The media office said 17 tanks and other military vehicles stormed the camp under the cover of drones and air strikes. 

Read more: Cats eat Palestinian corpses in Gaza amid devastating Israeli onslaught 

The Israeli military has issued a warning to southern Lebanese residents against returning to their homes.

The Arabic-language spokesman for the army, Avichay Adraee released a map naming 62 villages who residents are barred from returning.

“Anyone who moves south of this line exposes himself to danger,” he said.

At least another three Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on southern Gaza's Rafah and Khan Younis, Wafa news agency and Al Jazeera are reporting.

According to Al Jazeera, two were killed in Rafah, and another in an attack on the Bani Suheila roundabout east of Khan Younis.

Wafa reported citing medical sources, that 16 people, including children and women have been killed in Israeli attacks acrossing the enclave since dawn today. It added that 14 of the casualties were in central and southern Gaza.

We reported earlier that at least 20 people had been killed in overnight Israeli strikes across Gaza.

Gaza's health ministry reported that at least 58 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours.

Video footage shared by the Palestinian Civil Defence showed a rescue operation in the aftermath of the Rafah attack.

#شاهد | طواقم الدفاع المدني تنقذ فلسطينياً من تحت ركام منزل في منطقة مصبح شمال رفح بعد قصفه من طيران الاحتلال. pic.twitter.com/9T62Wk4JlB

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) December 23, 2024

Adnan Al-Dumairi, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority's security forces, confirmed the death of another officer during an operation in Jenin targeting Palestinian resistance fighters.

“The killing of another soldier will only strengthen our resolve to confront anyone threatening the security of the homeland,” Al-Dumairi said.

“There will be no tolerance for deviant and lawless groups,” he added, referring to Palestinian fighters opposing the Israeli occupation.

The PA's operations are carried out in collaboration with Israel and under its oversight.

Israel's Central Command has recommended reinforcing the PA’s security apparatus and increasing coordination. Acting on this recommendation, the Israeli security cabinet directed the army to enhance its collaboration with PA forces.

Israeli-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces have clashed with Palestinian resistance fighters near the Jenin refugee camp and the Jenin Government Hospital, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The area has witnessed escalating violence as PA security forces attempt to assert control over the camp, facing resistance from fighters opposing the Israeli occupation.

Last week, the Israeli army reportedly expressed satisfaction with a recent operation conducted by PA forces in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA).

Over the past two weeks, operations under Israeli military oversight have involved approximately 300 armed PA personnel.

Israel's Central Command has recommended strengthening the PA’s security apparatus and increasing coordination.

Following this advice, the Israeli security cabinet instructed the army to bolster its collaboration with PA forces.

Israeli authorities have been accused of torturing Palestinians at the Ofer detention camp, which was established during the ongoing war to hold detainees from Gaza, a new report has revealed.

The camp, a military-administered facility, is located next to a prison with the same name, between Jerusalem and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. 

According to 19 testimonies given to +972 and Local Call, the site has witnessed torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, mirroring what has been reported at the notorious Sde Teiman prison. 

Rami, a former Palestinian detainee at Ofer, described the facility as no less brutal than Sde Teiman. 

“I was severely tortured,” Rami said. “We were forced to kneel with our hands tied from sunrise until midnight. Guards beat us on every part of our bodies. I was given electric shocks every two days.” 

Read more: Shackled all day and beaten: Palestinians tortured at Israel’s Ofer detention camp, report reveals

The death toll from the continued Israeli onslaught on Gaza has reached 45,317, with 107,713 wounded, according to the latest update from Gaza's Health Ministry.

In the past 24 hours alone, 58 people were killed and 86 wounded.

The ministry reported that many bodies remain trapped under rubble and in the streets, as ambulances and civil defence teams struggle to access the affected areas due to relentless bombardments.

Israeli forces shot a young Palestinian man at Himza checkpoint located in the sorrounding areas of the occupied East Jerusalem.

Local sources, as reported by the Wafa news agency, said Israeli soldiers fired live rounds, blocked ambulance from accessing the wounded Palestinian, and closed surrounding roads.

Israeli police claimed a soldier opened fire after the man exited a vehicle and allegedly displayed a knife.

However, videos verified by Al Jazeera show the man lying on the ground near his car without receiving medical assistance, raising concerns over the treatment of injured Palestinians at the scene.

“We are under constant threat. Bombing continues daily from all directions, endangering the building, the departments, and the staff. It is a horrifying and grave situation,” said Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

“The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace us,” Safiya stated, urging swift international intervention to halt the "fierce assault" and protect healthcare workers, patients, and the medical system.

“The bombing has been unrelenting. Homes and nearby buildings were destroyed overnight. Since morning, the hospital itself has been hit with bombs in its courtyards and on the rooftop, dropped by quadcopters. This once again jeopardises our fuel and oxygen supplies,” Safiya added.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, told Middle East Eye that one of Gaza’s last remaining hospitals is “under heavy gunfire directed at the hospital and its departments. Bullets penetrated the intensive care unit, the maternity department, and the specialised surgery department.”

Additionally, Israeli forces targeted one of the generators and “completely put it out of service due to a fire. There were also attempts to hit the fuel tank, but fortunately, it did not explode,” added Safiya.

“Currently, we have 91 hospitalised patients, including adults, children, and women. We are still providing the minimum level of service,” he added.

“We have called on the international community for protection and humanitarian assistance, requesting the opening of humanitarian corridors to bring in what is needed. However, so far, we have received only a very small amount of aid, and we continue to appeal for protection,” said Safiya.

The ongoing Israeli bombardment of medical centres, including the Kamal Adwan facility, has been condemned by World Health Organisation (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Describing the situation as “deeply worrisome,” he called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the region, which has endured over 70 days of siege.

Reporting by Ahmed Dermly a Palestinian journalist in the besieged Gaza Strip.

More than a dozen relatives and members of the Palestinian Authority's security forces carried the body of an officer, Saher Erheil, during his funeral procession in Nablus on 23 December 2024 before his burial in his home town of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Erheil was killed on 22 December during clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority's security forces. His death came amid nearly two weeks of intense fighting in the northern Jenin area, backed by Israel and the United States.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said its fighters killed three Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

In a Telegram post seen by Al Jazeera, the soldiers were guarding a building when they were attacked and fatally stabbed.

The statement added that the fighters then entered the building, killed the remaining soldiers at close range and seized their weapons. The group also said it freed Palestinian captives held inside by Israel, though it did not specify how many.

Lebanon's prime minister, Najib Mikati, visited the southern frontline, where Lebanese soldiers are set to gradually deploy under a US-brokered agreement that also calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces by next month.

Mikati's visit comes amid growing frustration in Lebanon over continued Israeli air strikes and overflights.

"We have many tasks ahead of us, the most important being the enemy's [Israel's] withdrawal from all the lands it encroached on during its recent aggression," Mikati stated after meeting with army chief Joseph Aoun in Khiam.

The visit to Khiam included representatives from the United States and France, who are part of the committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

Mossad Director David Barnea has advised that Israel target Iran directly, rather than the Houthis, following recent missile strikes on Israel.

Barnea argued that Israel should "go for the head, Iran," according to sources who spoke with Israeli news outlet Ynet.

A report from Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat noted that Israeli security officials view the Houthis as largely independent, though they still receive considerable backing from Iran, including financial aid, equipment, and missile guidance

The Houthis have fired drones and missiles towards Israel for over a year, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. They have have said if Israel stops its onslaught against Palestinians the Houthis will also halt rocket attacks.