Live: At least 74 children killed in Gaza in first week of 2025

Palestinians throughout the besieged Gaza Strip spent New Year's Eve on Tuesday reflecting on how their lives have been upended, their homes destroyed and their loved ones killed by Israeli forces.

Many are hoping that 2025 will finally bring an end to Israel's devastating war on the Palestinian enclave.

Many of the area's residents spent Tuesday trying to clear out water from their tents after heavy rainfall caused flooding in parts of the strip.

The freezing temperatures and flooding have already killed seven people, including six infants, and international aid agencies have said Israel is hampering aid deliveries.

In 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza, Israeli forces have devastated the enclave’s civilian infrastructure - from residences to hospitals, schools and UN shelters.

Read more: After a year of death and destruction, Palestinians hope for end to Gaza war in 2025

Israeli forces have killed at least 17,400 children in Gaza, including 1,091 infants, 238 of whom were born and died during the ongoing war, according to Palestinian officials and Gaza’s government media office, as reported by Al Jazeera.

This equates to one child killed every 30 minutes, with thousands more likely buried under the rubble.

In November, amid a media spectacle, digital shopfront Steam removed the game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque from sale in the UK. 

That was after the country’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) put pressure on Valve, the company that owns and runs the Steam service.

Because Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, it is not surprising that the counterterrorism services reached out to Valve to remove it from sale, as the game could be construed as an expression of a player’s support for the group and, therefore, illegal.

Originally released in 2022, the game allows a player to take control of a Palestinian fighter tasked with protecting the Old City of Jerusalem from Israeli soldiers.

In November 2024, the game received another update from its Brazilian developer, entitled "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood".

As the name suggests, the update allows a player to recreate the Hamas-led offensive on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Screen grabs of gameplay footage show fighters infiltrating Israeli army bases and parachuting into battle, reminiscent of the actual attacks where Hamas fighters used paragliders to breach Israeli army barriers separating the besieged Gaza Strip from Israel.

The controversy surrounding the game was loud and effective in having it removed from Steam but also led to accusations of double standards.

Video games have a long history of pushing the envelope, including with regard to violence considered “terroristic”.

Read more: How a 7 October video game highlighted the gaming world’s uneasy relationship with Islam

At least 45,553 Palestinians have been killed and 108,379 wounded in Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday.

Israeli forces have arrested at least 22 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa news agency, citing local and security sources.

The arrests occurred in the areas of Hebron, Salfit, Tubas, and Bethlehem.

Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reports that there are currently 10,300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 345 children and 89 women.

This figure includes 3,428 Palestinians held under “administrative detention,” which allows their detention without charge or trial for renewable periods of three to six months, based on undisclosed evidence.

Hundreds of thousands gathered on Istanbul's historic Galata Bridge in solidarity with Gaza on the first morning 2025.

The march, organised by Human Alliance and supported by 400 NGOs in Turkey, began after the morning prayers. Local reports showed fishermen joining the demonstration with their boats, while those aboard the boats supported the protest by lighting torches and waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.

🟥Filistin'e destek eylemine balıkçılar tekneleriyle katıldı

📌Teknedeki vatandaşlar eyleme meşaleler yakıp, Türk ve Filistin bayrağı sallayarak eşlik etti. pic.twitter.com/9Nb91lfBtc

— Star Gazetesi 🇹🇷 (@stargazete) January 1, 2025

🇵🇸 Yeni yılın ilk gününde binlerce vatandaş, Galata Köprüsü'nde Filistin'e destek için bir araya geldi

📹 Eylem alanı havadan görüntülendi https://t.co/XeTltPCbWO pic.twitter.com/Sb17KQI5Q3

— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) January 1, 2025

Ceasefire talks between Palestinian group Hamas and the Israeli government have 'hit an impasse' in recent days, Wall Street Journal quoting Arab mediators.

Mediators said both sides were considering a 60-day ceasefire that would see the release of up to 30 hostages from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and increased humanitarian aid. However, talks broke down as details were discussed.

“Mediators said Israel insisted that it receive only living hostages in any exchange and refused to approve the release of some of the Palestinian detainees sought by Hamas,” the WSJ said.

Hamas also revived its demand for the ceasefire to be a “path to an end to the war”, it added.

Hamas said the talks have not yet failed, but the current disagreements suggest a deal is unlikely before the end of the Biden administration.

The floodwaters in northern Gaza City, southern Khan Younis, and central Deir el-Balah have risen above 30cm (12 inches), damaging belongings and leaving displaced families exposed to the cold, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported.

More than 1,500 tents flooded and became unusable in Gaza after days of rain, while hundreds of others have been affected by lower water levels of less than 30cm.

The death toll from Israel’s predawn attacks on northern Jabalia and the central Bureij camps has risen to 17, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Israeli forces are reportedly demolishing residential buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp and the nearby town of Beit Lahiya, both located in North Gaza governorate, which has been under siege since 6 October.

The Israeli military claims the operation aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping, but critics argue it seeks to depopulate northern Gaza to establish a “buffer zone”.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has filed an “urgent request” with the Israeli military, demanding disclosure of the whereabouts of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, who was “abducted” during the raid and destruction of the facility by Israeli forces.

The arrest of Abu Safia “is part of a wider assault on Gaza’s healthcare system and its staff,” Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said. The group reported that Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 healthcare workers in Gaza, detained more than 230, and are still holding 130 in custody.

“Thousands of Palestinian detainees have been tortured and abused in Israeli custody over the past 15 months,” the group said, adding that this has led to dozens of deaths due to violence and medical neglect, including three physicians.

The organisation stressed that international law provides special protections to healthcare workers and warned that Abu Safia must not “join this toll”.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from Israel's war on Gaza:  

• Israel’s predawn attacks on northern Jabalia and the central Bureij camp have killed at least 10 people, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. 

• The UN’s humanitarian agency (Ocha) said 2024 saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the agency began keeping records nearly two decades ago.

• Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli forces have engaged in armed clashes following an Israeli raid on the West Bank town of Tammun early this morning, according to local Palestinian news reports.

• Gaza has “alarming rates of microbiological contamination”, an emergency water quality survey conducted by the UN and aid agencies found.

• Israel’s military is holding the bodies of 198 Palestinians killed in 2024, representing one-third of all Palestinian bodies currently held in Israeli morgues and “numbered graves,” according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

• Israeli authorities allowed in just 160 trucks carrying shelter items into Gaza between December 1 and 26, the UN’s humanitarian agency (Ocha) said.

• The WHO reported that 55 Palestinians and 72 caregivers have been evacuated from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates for specialised medical treatment.

Our liveblog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are today's key developments:

- Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have devastated the Palestinian enclave's health system and raised serious concerns about Israel's compliance with international law, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday.

- Healthcare workers and social media users from around the globe are demanding the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who is currently being detained by Israel's military. Doctors, medical professionals and regular civilians have taken to social media this week to share their support for Abu Safiya, using the hashtag "FreeDrHussamAbuSafiyeh".

- The Quds Press Agency, citing its sources, reported on Tuesday that Israel has bombed the water desalination plant on Old Gaza Street in the north of the strip. The northern third of Gaza has been under Israeli siege for three months now, with little to no aid reaching the remaining residents there. A recent US government-funded report said there are famine conditions in the area. 

- Nearly 1,000 impacted Israeli families have signed a public letter demanding that the government establish a state commission of inquiry into its own conduct ahead of the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas-led groups, the Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.  The letter will be published in major newspapers on Wednesday. 

- The Israeli army, in the very early hours of Wednesday, said two rockets were launched from central Gaza, and that one of them was successfully intercepted. The other fell in an open area, the army said. Earlier, the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, said it launched a barrage of rockets towards Netivot in southern Israel "in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians."

- The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, urged Israel on Tuesday to allow aid into Gaza, with six Palestinian babies confirmed dead from the cold. "Blankets, mattresses and warm clothes are sitting outside Gaza waiting for approval to get in. The siege must be lifted," Unrwa wrote on X. "More babies will likely die due to the cold, lack of shelter and basic winter supplies."

- Heavy rain in Gaza has caused extensive damage and flooded over 100 tents in Khan Younis, south of the enclave, according to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa). "Displaced people, already living through the unlivable due to the war, are now battling heavy rainstorms," Unrwa said on X on Tuesday. 

Aljazeera has obtained footage of what is said to be a Palestinian Authority (PA) military vehicle on fire at the entrance to the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

The vehicle was reportedly set alight "amid heavy gunfire" in the area.

For the last two weeks, the US-trained and Israeli-backed PA security forces have raided the Jenin camp in a bid to crack down on Palestinian armed resistance to Israeli occupation forces. 

مصادر للجزيرة مباشر: اشتعال النار في مركبة عسكرية تابعة للسلطة الفلسطينية عند مدخل مخيم #جنين وسط إطلاق نار كثيف#الجزيرة_مباشر pic.twitter.com/j3nzrrPwCh

— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) December 31, 2024

The Israeli army, in the very early hours of Wednesday, said two rockets were launched from central Gaza, and that one of them was successfully intercepted.

The other fell in an open area, the army said. 

Earlier, the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, said it launched a barrage of rockets towards Netivot in southern Israel "in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.".

Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have devastated the Palestinian enclave's health system and raised serious concerns about Israel's compliance with international law, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday.

The 23-page report, documenting various attacks between 12 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, concluded that since the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023, the conduct of hostilities in Gaza had had severe consequences for Palestinians' access to medical attention.

"The destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, and the extent of killing of patients, staff, and other civilians in these attacks, is a direct consequence of the disregard of international humanitarian and human rights law," it said.

Daniel Meron, Israel's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, described the report's data as fabricated. He said on X that Israel operates in accordance with international law, would never target innocent civilians, and accused Hamas of using Gaza hospitals for what he called "terror activity".

The Israeli military has accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres for military operations and said that people Israel has detained at the facilities were suspected militants.

The UN report alluded to such arguments but said insufficient information had been made public to substantiate them.

- Reporting from Reuters