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3. New Year's Eve Brings Escalation in Gaza

The war in Gaza continued into the new year on Monday, with Hamas firing a barrage of rockets at Israel just as the clock struck midnight. Two dozen people were killed overnight in Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory.

Air alert sirens sounded across Israel as 2024 began. AFP journalists in Tel Aviv witnessed missile defense systems intercepting rockets overhead. Some revelers in the streets rushed for cover, while others continued to party with a shrug.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack in a video published on social media. They stated that they had fired M90 rockets in “response to the massacres of civilians” carried out by Israel.

The Israeli Army confirmed the attack without initially reporting any casualties or damage.

In Gaza, overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 24 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with attacks reported across the length of the territory.

The Israeli offensive has reduced vast areas to a ruined wasteland and killed at least 21,822 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The Israeli Army reports that 172 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza, and the war shows no signs of stopping.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Saturday that the fighting would last “many months until Hamas is eliminated and the hostages are returned.”

In the besieged Gaza Strip, where the UN says 85 percent of the population has been displaced, 20-year-old Hamdan Abu Arab expressed hope for a better 2024.

Since Israel imposed a siege at the outset of the war, Gazans have been facing dire shortages of food, fuel, water, and medicine.

UN chief António Guterres has condemned the “epic human suffering” and “collective punishment” of Palestinian civilians, while the WHO has warned of the risk of infectious disease.

Miroslava Salazar, with AFP