Fighting in Gaza over the weekend left 15 Israeli soldiers dead, as public support for the war is tested

TEL AVIV, Israel – The Israeli military announced Sunday that 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Gaza over the weekend, as tentative efforts continued to reach an agreement for another hostage exchange with Palestinians held by Israel.

As Christmas Eve arrived, smoke was still rising in the Gaza sky due to the fighting, while silence fell over the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank, and holiday celebrations were cancelled.

The high death toll among Israeli forces – 154 since the ground offensive began – may erode popular support for the war, which broke out when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.

The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killing nearly 20,400 Palestinians and displacing the besieged enclave's entire population of 2.3 million. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that 166 people were killed in the coastal strip during the past day.

The Israelis remain largely behind the country's stated goals of crushing Hamas's ruling and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 prisoners. This is despite the increasing international pressure against the Israeli attack, the high death toll and the unprecedented suffering among the Palestinians.

Hamas imposes a high price

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The war imposes a very heavy price on us, but we have no choice but to continue fighting.”

There was widespread anger against his government, which many criticized for failing to protect civilians on October 7 and promoting policies that had allowed Hamas to gain power over the years. Netanyahu has avoided accepting responsibility for military and political failures.

“Over time, the public will find it difficult to ignore the high price that has been paid, as well as the suspicion that the goals so loudly declared remain far from being achieved, and that Hamas shows no signs of surrendering in the near future.” Amos Harel wrote, Military affairs commentator for Haaretz newspaper.

Efforts towards negotiations continued. On Sunday, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Ziad al-Nakhalah, arrived in Egypt for talks. The armed group, which was also involved in the October 7 attack, said it was prepared to consider releasing the hostages only after the fighting ended. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo for talks a few days ago.

Inside Gaza

The Israeli attack was one of the most devastating military campaigns in modern history. More than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinian dead were women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 13-year-old boy was shot dead in an Israeli drone attack while inside Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, a part of Gaza where the Israeli military believes Hamas leaders are hiding.

An Israeli raid overnight hit a house in a refugee camp west of the city of Rafah on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt. At least two men were killed, according to Associated Press journalists at the hospital where the bodies were taken.

At least two people were killed and six others were injured when a missile hit a building in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Palestinians reported heavy Israeli bombing and gunfire in Jabalia, an area north of Gaza City that Israel claims to control. The military arm of Hamas said that its fighters bombed Israeli forces in Jabalia and the Jabalia refugee camp.

Asaad Radwan, a resident of Jabalia, said, “The sounds of explosions and gunfire never stopped.”

Israel has come under international criticism for the number of civilian deaths, but it blames Hamas, citing the militants' use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of air strikes since October 7, and has largely refrained from commenting on specific attacks.

Israel also faces allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian men and teenagers detained in homes, shelters, hospitals and other places during the offensive. It denied allegations of abuse and said those with no links to militants would be released quickly.

Speaking to the AP from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Bardini from Gaza City said Israeli forces arrested him after tanks and bulldozers partially destroyed his home. He added that the men were handcuffed and blindfolded.

“We did not sleep. We did not get food and water,” he said, crying and covering his face.

Another detainee who was released, Muhammad Salem, from the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, said that Israeli forces beat them. “We were insulted,” he added. “A female soldier would come and beat an old man, 72 years old.”

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without providing evidence, and says it is dismantling Hamas' vast tunnel network and killing senior leaders – a process the leaders said could take months.

International pressure

The UN Security Council passed a watered-down resolution calling for the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to starving and desperate Palestinians and the release of all hostages, but not for a ceasefire.

But it was not immediately clear how and when deliveries of food, medical supplies and other aid, well below the daily average of 500 before the war, would accelerate. Trucks enter through two crossings – Rafah and Kerem Shalom on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, said that 93 aid trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Saturday.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, repeated UN calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, adding on social media that “the destruction of the health system in Gaza is a tragedy.”

Israel's allies in Europe intensified their calls to stop the fighting. But it appears that the United States, Israel's largest ally, still stands firmly behind Israel despite intensifying its calls for greater protection for civilians.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Saturday, a day after Washington protected Israel from a tougher UN resolution. Biden said he did not ask for a ceasefire, while Netanyahu's office said the prime minister “made clear that Israel will continue the war until all its goals are achieved.”

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Al-Sharafa reported from Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffrey in London contributed to this report.

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Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war