Palestine’s president says Gaza is unrecognisable and blames US for prolonging war as Israel says the conflict could last ‘many months’: ‘A war beyond annihilation’

The Palestinian president said the Gaza Strip was unrecognizable due to damage caused during the Israeli offensive and accused the US of prolonging the war.

The attack has killed at least 241 people in the past 24 hours as the war enters its third month.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the conflict in the Gaza Strip “beyond a war of annihilation,” adding that it was unprecedented in the history of the Palestinian people.

The head of the Israeli army, Herzi Halevi, said that the war will continue “for many more months” so that “Israel’s achievements are preserved for a long time.”

On an Egyptian television channel, in his first interview since the start of the war, Abbas said that the West Bank could cave in at any moment.

The shrouded bodies of Palestinians killed in northern Gaza, who were captured and later liberated by Israel, are buried in a mass grave in Rafah, southern Gaza, on December 26, 2023.

General view of the Khalifa bin Zayed School, destroyed after Israeli attacks, in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, December 26, 2023.

Injured Palestinians are taken to hospital after an Israeli attack on a building in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, December 26, 2023.

He accused Washington of prolonging the war by vetoing draft UN resolutions aimed at securing a ceasefire.

Abbas called the war a “serious crime” against his people.

Israel says it struck more than 100 targets yesterday amid reports of upcoming ground operations in the heart of the Gaza Strip.

Early this morning, loud explosions could be heard from the Gaza Strip along the perimeter of the border with Israel.

Six Palestinians were killed in an overnight Israeli drone strike on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm in the West Bank, Palestinian medical sources said.

Gaza’s health ministry reported that 382 people were injured in the same 24-hour period.

Footage released yesterday in Gaza City showed IDF soldiers surrounding men stripped to their underwear.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the conflict in the Gaza Strip “beyond a catastrophe”

Palestinian girls search the rubble of a building after an Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 26, 2023.

Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks are taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical treatment as attacks continue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, December 24, 2023.

The video shows several men standing in the middle of the stadium in front of armed soldiers.

Later, several men are shown sitting on the grass with their hands behind their backs, while others are lined up with their hands raised in front of the soldiers.

More than 20,900 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants among the dead.

About 1,200 people were killed during a Hamas raid into southern Israel on October 7, and about 240 were taken hostage. Israel says it intends to release more than 100 hostages who remain captive in the Gaza Strip.

Lieutenant General Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said at a press conference: “When it comes to completely eliminating a terrorist organization, there is no other way than stubbornness and decisiveness in combat operations.”

“There are no magic solutions,” he added.

A plume of smoke emerges from the northern Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment from southern Israel on December 27, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

He promised to arrest or eliminate the Hamas leadership, even if it takes time.

Halevi also noted that the IDF is close to destroying all Hamas battalions in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli and Arab media report that Egypt has put forward a ceasefire plan.

According to reports, this will mean the gradual release of all Israeli hostages and an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, resulting in a pause in the Israeli offensive.

Dozens of hostages were released from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners as part of a previous temporary truce deal negotiated by Qatar.

But so far both sides have ignored calls for a lasting ceasefire.