Al Mayadeen – January 1, 2025
Gaza marks New Year with a barrage of rockets fired at 'Tel Aviv'
Locals in Gaza, who have been subjected to an 87-day-long war, cheer and applaud as the rocket zip through the air to land in occupied territories.
As the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, the Palestinian resistance in Gaza launched a barrage of rockets against the capital of the Israeli occupation regime:οΎ "Tel Aviv".
The barrage was joyously applauded by the people of Gaza who have been subjected to a genocidal war by the Israeli occupation for the past 87 days.
Israeli media reported that a total of 27 rockets were fired from Gaza during the night, with 18 getting intercepted, and 9 landing in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948.
Despite the measures taken by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to undermine the resistance's infrastructure in Gaza, Hamas demonstrated its persistent potential to threaten Israeli settlements in the mainland of occupied Palestine.
Prior to this, an IOF spokesperson had informed reporters that Hamas' artillery potential had been weakened to an average of only 14 rockets per day. Only for the resistance to refute this claim shortly afterward by firing dozens of rockets.
Commenting on the situation, Boaz Golan, founder of the 0404 news website and a presenter on Channel 14, highlighted the need for a reassessment, stating, "Hamas continues to launch rockets; it's time to stop humiliating ourselves!"
Earlier today, the IOF spokesperson reported that two Israeli occupation reservists were killed.
A Seargent Major of the Yifatch Birgade's 7810th Combat Engineering Battalion and a Seargent First Class of the 7107th Combat Engineering Battalion were killed in the central and northern Gaza Strip respectively.
List of operations on New Year's Eve
Aerial assets
Al-Qassam Brigades and al-Mujahideen Brigades revealed that their fighters conducted a joint operation, targeting an Israeli Apache helicopter with an SA-7, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile. The Palestinian fighters conducted the operation in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, the Brigades announced on Sunday afternoon.
To the north of Gaza City, in Beit Lahia, al-Qassam fighters captured an Israeli Skylark-2 unmanned aerial vehicle, while it was on a reconnaissance mission. The Brigades released a video of the Israeli drone a few hours later, documenting the achievement, which has become a near-daily occurrence for the Brigades.
Naval assets
To the west of Gaza City, near Gaza's coast, al-Mujahideen fighters targeted an Israeli military speedboat with a locally produced rocket launcher, dubbed Saeer.
Captured Equipment
The Brigade, which played a substantial role in attacking Israeli sites in the Gaza Envelope on October 7, also published footage of several Israeli weapons. A commander said in a recorded video published on Telegram, that al-Mujahideen fighters were able to capture multiple pieces of Israeli military equipment in the past few days, as a result of direct confrontations across the Gaza Strip.
A video was then released showing two Israeli M4 A1 assault rifles and a MATADOR anti-fortification recoilless gun, as well as multiple ammunition boxes in the possession of al-Mujahideen Brigades.
Ambushes and direct confrontations
Regarding direct confrontations, fighting concentrated in Gaza City neighborhoods, Khan Younis in the south, and al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip.
Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades
Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades announced that its fighters ambushed an Israeli infantry force to the east of al-Bureij, using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), confirming direct hits.
Al-Quds Brigades
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades, said that its sapper units were able to booby trap a tunnel entrance in the al-Shujaiya neighborhood, to the east of Gaza City. The fighters later detonated the planted explosives, killing and injuring members of a special Israeli force who had arrived at the scene.
An al-Quds Brigades sniper also shot down an Israeli soldier in al-Tuffah neighborhood, in Gaza City.
DFLP
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (DFLP) National Resistance Brigades, confirmed that its fighters were able to target an Israeli tank with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), holding a large amount of explosive material, in the Katibah area in Khan Younis, confirming a direct hit.
National Resistance fighters also fiercly engaged Israeli occupation forces to the east of al-Maghazi, which is located to the south of al-Bureij. Another group of fighters pushed back against Israeli forces into the east of Khuzaa in the district of Khan Younis, confirming casualties among the enemy's ranks.
Al-Qassam Brigades
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades announced that their fighter targeted a total of five Israeli tanks in the al-Tuffah and al-Daraj neighborhoods in Gaza City. Fighters used locally produced explosively formed penetrators and tandem RPGs.
In the southern Gaza Strip, al-Qassam fighters targeted an armored Israeli bulldozer with an al-Yassin 105mm RPG.
Moreover, al-Qassam mortar and artillery units, as well as units from al-Mujahideen and al-Quds Brigades rained Israeli occupation positions in and outside the Gaza Strip with rockets and shells throughout the last day of 2023.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-marks-new-year-with-a-barrage-of-rockets-fired-at--tel
Al-Qassam fires rockets from Gaza at turn of the year
Marking the start of 2025, al-Qassam fighters fire a salvo of rockets at the Israeli Netivot settlement.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas, announced that its fighters fired a salvo of rockets at the Israeli Netivot settlement.
Sirens sounded in the settlement located in southern occupied Palestine as soon as the new year was ushered in.
This comes as the Israeli regime continues its months-long genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has entered its 453rd day.
Exactly a year ago al-Qassam Brigades fighters fired a salvo of rockets at central Israeli-occupied areas and city settlements. Despite the unprecedented assault on the besieged territory, Gaza's Resistance continues to cost the Israeli military casualties, while finding ways to fire rockets at occupied areas.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-qassam-fires-rockets-from-gaza-at-turn-of-the-year
Day 453 of Israeli genocide in Gaza: 45,553 killed, 108,379 injured
The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip continues unabated, with dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded every day.
The Israeli occupation forces have killed 45,553 Palestinians, while another 108,379 have been injured since October 7, 2023, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on the 453th day of the ongoing Israeli genocide.
The Israeli occupation committed two massacres across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours, killing 12 Palestinians and injuring 41 others.
While some victims were transported to the few partially functioning hospitals, many remain trapped under the rubble or in areas inaccessible to ambulance and Civil Defense teams.
The Israeli genocide is ongoing
Seventeen Palestinians were killed and several others injured early Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes on the al-Bureij refugee camp and the town of Jabalia, located in the central and northern Gaza Strip. The strikes resulted in widespread devastation, with Israeli invading units also demolishing residential blocks in Beit Lahia, the Jabalia camp, and surrounding areas in northern Gaza.
In addition to the aerial bombardments, Israeli military vehicles opened fire in the northwestern part of Gaza City, while artillery targeted southeastern neighborhoods of the al-Bureij camp in central Gaza.
Rainstorms submerge 1,500 tents in Gaza’s displacement camps
Over the past two days, heavy rainfall has flooded 1,542 tents housing forcibly displaced families in camps and shelters across the Gaza Strip.
The General Directorate of Civil Defense reported that rescue teams found hundreds of tents submerged in over 30 cm of water, causing significant damage to the belongings of displaced residents.
The hardest-hit areas included the camps at Yarmouk Stadium and Gaza Municipality Park, where 242 tents were flooded. In the Saraya complex, 185 tents were affected, and 70 tents in the Shujaiya parking lot were submerged.
In Rafah, 170 tents along Sea Street and near the Fash Fesh rest area were inundated. In Khan Younis, over 665 tents were damaged, while 210 tents in the central governorate, particularly in Deir al-Balah, al-Bassa, and Wadi al-Salqa, were also severely impacted.
Meanwhile, rescue teams are continuing efforts to provide assistance and assess the full extent of damage despite the challenges.
On the other hand, the spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, detailed the suffering of Palestinians in the Strip, noting that a large number of Palestinians have crowded into displacement camps amid extremely cold weather.
Basal, speaking to Al Mayadeen, highlighted that Palestinians, already dying from bombardment and hunger, now face the threat of freezing to death. He noted that seven children and infants had already died from the cold.
The Civil Defense in Gaza reported on Tuesday that it received hundreds of distress calls from forcibly displaced residents whose tents and shelters have been flooded by heavy rainfall, with many pleading for urgent help to rescue their children.
The Civil Defense stated in a press release that since yesterday, it has received numerous distress calls from displaced citizens whose tents and destroyed homes have been flooded by rainwater.
"Our teams are only able to evacuate citizens from their flooded shelters to other locations, which are often unsuitable for housing, leaving them exposed to the elements in the open, under torrential rain and freezing temperatures," the statement read.
Iran summons Saudi Arabia’s ambassador over execution of 6 Iranian nationals
Iran has summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Tehran to strongly protest the execution of six jailed Iranian nationals in the Arab kingdom over alleged drug trafficking.
While announcing the news on Wednesday, the Director General of the Consular Affairs Office at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Karimi Shasati, said the ambassador received a formal note of strong protest from the Islamic Republic.
He added that the Saudi ambassador was told that the executions were incompatible with the overall trajectory of judicial cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the need for an explanation.
“These individuals had been sentenced to death by the Saudi judiciary several years ago on drug trafficking charges. During this time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made continuous efforts to provide consular services to them and seek to commute their sentences," Shasati said.
To proceed with the executions without any prior notice to the Iranian embassy is "completely unacceptable" and a violation of international legal standards, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, he added.
The official also said that a legal and consular delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is set to travel to Riyadh to follow up on the matter.
According to a report by Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), published last year, at least 1,243 people were executed between 2010 and 2021 in Saudi Arabia, making the Arab kingdom one of the most rampant executioners in the world.
The international rights groups emphasized that the actual number of people put to death in the country is unknown because Saudi authorities do not provide any information about capital trials and keep them shrouded in secrecy.
