Another 210 Palestinians were killed and 360 injured by Israeli forces in Gaza in the 24 hours to Thursday 3pm, according to the Gazan health ministry. More than 21,300 people have now been reported killed in the assault, and over 55,600 injured, with roughly 7,000 more missing, likely buried under rubble.
The United Nations reports that 85 percent of the population of the enclave has been displaced, and 40 percent face famine. UN shelters are at over four times capacity.
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, December 26, 2023
While the genocide in Gaza continues, Israel and its allies are looking to expand the scope of the war. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared earlier this week, “We are in a multi-front war. We are being attacked from seven fronts—Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”
He added Thursday, “This is the end of the era of limited conflicts,” continuing, “We operated for years under the assumption that limited conflicts could be managed, but that is a phenomenon that is disappearing. Today, there is a noticeable phenomenon of the convergence of the arenas.”
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes comments along the lines of Monday’s, “We are not stopping. The war will continue until the end, until we finish it, no less,” it is the wider Middle East more than the already ruined Gaza Strip he is referring to.
The West Bank is one focal point of an already expanded conflict, with Israel tightening its military dictatorship over the occupied Palestinian territories. On Wednesday night, Israel carried out its most intense raids of the war to date in the region, sending large numbers of troops and vehicles into ten cities, killing at least one person and injuring 15 others, while at least two dozen were detained, and seizing $2.5 million from money exchanges.
Over 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or settlers since October 7, and over 4,700 arrested—among them journalists and politicians.
Middle East Journalist Mouin Rabbani told Al Jazeera, “They are out to deliberately provoke the Palestinians to seek to create as much conflict as possible,” adding that this was part of a plan “to permanently consolidate” Israeli control of the West Bank.
The UN released a 22-page flash report Thursday on “The human rights situation in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem” up to November 20.