While bombing was at its most intense over northern Gaza, Israeli planes roared over central and southern areas, dropping bombs that sent up plumes of smoke, residents said. Many of the buildings closest to the Gaza border with Israel have already been razed to the ground. Only nine out of 36 health facilities were partially functional in the whole of Gaza, according to the WHO, all of them in the south. Thursday also saw one of the most serious exchanges of fire across Israel’s northern border since the start of the Gaza war. Israel hit Hizbullah targets some 20km inside south Lebanon while the Iranian-backed Shia group hit buildings in a number of Israeli border communities.

Source: The Irish Times December 21, 2023 21:03 UTC