Battle in Gaza Strip Continues During Christmas Holiday... "Over 70 Members of Extended Family Killed"

UNDP "Staff Member and His Family Found Dead"

As the war between the Palestinian armed group Hamas and Israel continues, more than 70 members of an extended family, including United Nations staff in the Gaza Strip, have died due to Israeli airstrikes.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced on the 23rd (local time) that a bombing near Gaza City killed veteran UNDP relief officer Isam Al-Mughrabi (56), his wife Lamia (53), their five children aged 13 to 32, and about 70 members of their extended family.

The British daily The Guardian reported that 76 members of the extended family died, while the Associated Press (AP) reported that two households were hit by airstrikes that day, resulting in the deaths of about 90 people, including one extended family.

In a statement, UNDP said, "We are deeply shocked by the death of the Isam family," emphasizing, "The United Nations and civilians in the Gaza Strip are not targets. This war must end."

According to AP and other sources on the same day, the Israeli military has set a goal to fully control northern Gaza and is bombarding areas such as the Jabalia village.

The Hamas military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed to have destroyed five Israeli tanks in the area. They also asserted that they reused two missiles fired by the Israeli military that had failed to detonate.

The Israeli military stated that it had nearly completed its operation to control northern Gaza the previous day and was preparing to expand ground operations to the south. On this day, they said they lured dozens of armed militants into a Hamas building in the Issa area of Gaza City and bombed it, claiming to have "eliminated terrorists."

Israel announced that it had captured 200 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants over the past week. Since the start of the ground offensive, 700 Palestinian militants have been detained.