Israel airstrikes kill five, hostage families desperate
|
Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman.
One strike hit a home in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing two men and a woman, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties.
The hospital said it also received a 4-month-old boy who was killed in a strike on his family house in the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp.
An Associated Press journalist saw the four bodies in the hospital morgue.
In Gaza City, an airstrike hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a 3-week-old baby, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service.
Israel’s military says it only targets militants, who it accuses of hiding among civilians.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities.
Meanwhile the families and supporters of the remaining Israeli hostages are desperate for a ceasefire deal to bring an end to their 15-month-long nightmare.
The hostages often experience the same dire circumstances as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, whether it be food scarcity, the dangers from Israeli bombardments or the winter.
The war in Gaza has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, many of whom are weathering a second winter in tents that are barely holding up against the wind, rain and temperatures that can drop below 10 C at night.
Israel and Hamas are considering a deal that would free some hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
But despite reports of progress, the families of hostages have been shattered by previous rounds of promising talks that have suddenly collapsed.
Israel has rescued eight hostages and has recovered the bodies of dozens.
The hostages range in age from 1 to 86, and are believed to be scattered throughout the Gaza Strip. They have been held in apartments or in Hamas’ web of underground tunnels, which are cramped, damp and stifling, according to testimony from freed hostages.
Many families have no idea what conditions their loved ones face, uncertainty that heightens their concern.
Yehonatan Sabban, a spokesperson for the Hostages Families Forum, said the hostages are undernourished, with low fat reserves and weakened immune systems, making them more vulnerable to complications from illness in winter.
“Everyone is in a life-threatening situation that demands their immediate release,” Sabban said.
AP
