Israel threatens to step up Gaza strikes if Hamas continues rocket attacks

GAZA CITY - Israel warned on Jan 1 that it will intensify its strikes in Gaza if Hamas keeps up its rocket fire, as Palestinian rescuers reported dozens of deaths from Israeli strikes on the first day of the new year.

Over the past week, Palestinian militants have repeatedly fired rockets at Israel, particularly from northern Gaza, where the Israeli military is conducting a major offensive.

The rockets have caused little damage and have been fired in far smaller numbers than in the early stages of the war, but they have been a political blow for the Israeli government after nearly 15 months of fighting.

“I want to send a clear message from here to the heads of the terrorists in Gaza: If Hamas does not soon allow the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza... and continues firing at Israeli communities, it will face blows of an intensity not seen in Gaza for a long time,” said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz.

His warning came after a visit to the Israeli town of Netivot, which was recently targeted by rocket fire from nearby Gaza.

Militants are still holding 96 hostages seized during their Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and successive rounds of negotiations for their release and a ceasefire have all failed.

Israeli strikes continued across Gaza on Jan 1.

Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP: “The world welcomed the new year with celebrations and festivities, while we witnessed 2025 begin with the first Israeli massacre in the town of Jabalia just after midnight.”

“Fifteen people were martyred and more than 20 were injured” in the strike on a house where displaced people were staying, he said.

The Israeli military told AFP that it had “eliminated” several Hamas militants operating “within a terrorist structure” in Jabalia, without giving a toll of its own.

Since Oct 6, the military has been conducting a major land and air offensive in northern Gaza, particularly targeting Jabalia and its adjacent refugee camp.

The military says the operation is aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.

But on Dec 30, UN human rights experts said the “siege” appears to be part of an effort “to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza’s annexation”.

Mr Bassal said those staying in the house were members of the Badra, Abu Warda and Taroush families who had sought refuge there.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once since the war began.

“The house has turned into a pile of debris,” said Mr Jibri Abu Warda, a relative of the victims.

“It was a massacre, with body parts of children and women scattered everywhere. They were sleeping when the house was bombed,” he added.

“No one knows why they targeted the house. They were all civilians.”

Fear of cold

At Al-Mamadani Hospital, women wept over shrouded bodies in the morgue, which included some children.

“We don’t want aid; we want the war to stop. Enough with the bloodshed! Enough!” said Mr Khalil Abu Warda, another relative.

Over the past weeks, the Israeli assault in Jabalia has expanded across the north of the territory.

On Dec 27, the military raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, emptying it of its last staff and patients.

The army said it had killed more than 20 suspected militants and detained more than 240, including the hospital’s director Hossam Abu Safiyeh, whom it described as a suspected Hamas militant.

Mr Jonathan Whittall, a UN aid official, said in a video released after he visited the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza: “Around me, there’s nothing but rubble and destruction. People don’t know what to do, don’t know where to go. And they don’t know how to survive.”

The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres. Hamas denies the allegations.

A report published on Dec 31 by the UN Human Rights Office said “insufficient information” has been made available to substantiate “vague” Israeli accusations of military use of hospitals.

Two further Israeli strikes in Gaza on Jan 1 killed another 10 people, rescuers said.

The bombardment piled further misery on displaced Gazans already struggling to keep warm amid wintry conditions.

One displaced woman, Ms Samah Darabieh, said: “For three days, we haven’t slept out of fear that our children would fall sick because of the winter, as well as fear of missiles falling on us.”

The war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,553 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry which the UN considers reliable. AFP