New Year 2025 in Gaza: Israel Continues Violence

New Year 2025 in Gaza portrayed a different picture while the rest of the world celebrated with fireworks and festivities. Gaza experienced nothing of the sort. Instead of fireworks and festivities, Gaza endured yet another day of tragedy as Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardments killed at least 17 Palestinians in the northern Jabalia refugee camp and central Bureij camp on New Year’s Day.

For the besieged residents of Gaza, the New Year did not promise new beginnings or relief but worsened suffering because violence, displacement, and cold winter conditions are still opening old wounds.

New Year 2025 in Gaza: A Bleak Reality

While the rest of the world welcomed New Year 2025 with pomp and gaiety, the civilians of Gaza were struggling to come to terms with the merciless brutalities of war. As of October 2023, the Gaza war has claimed over 45,541 Palestinian lives and left over 108,000 injured. For three months, the three-month-long siege by Israel has reduced basic infrastructure to rubble, forced thousands of families to take to the roads, and survival has become a feat for many.

On New Year’s Day, Israeli forces bombarded residential areas in Gaza’s Jabalia and Bureij refugee camps. The attacks killed hundreds of people, worsening the humanitarian situation. Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are barely functioning. For example, Kamal Adwan Hospital stopped working after repeated strikes, leaving Gaza’s injured without critical medical care.

Winter’s Cruel Grip: A Double Blow

Adding to the tragedy of New Year 2025 in Gaza is the cruel grip of winter. Heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in Khan Younis, Deir Al-Balah, and Gaza City, leaving displaced families in makeshift shelters submerged in floodwaters. Refugee camps saw over 1,500 tents destroyed, leaving families exposed to the cold. Floodwaters reaching depths of 30cm inundated homes, destroyed belongings, and heightened the risk of disease.

Six infants killed by hypothermia in just one week is a drastic result of the harsh weather. This winter tragedy demonstrates the hardships that the civilians of Gaza have to face during the period, lacking shelter and resources in the midst of violent attacks.

A Global Contrast in Celebration

As fireworks lit up the skies in major cities around the world, including New York, London, and Sydney, Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were under raids and assaults by Israeli forces. On New Year’s Day, Israeli forces also carried out operations in West Bank cities like Jenin, Nablus, and Ramallah. The difference between global celebrations and this suffering in Gaza is how desperately there is an urgent need for international attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Palestine.

However, there are rays of hope for evacuation that have been reflected by evacuating 55 Palestinians accompanied by their caregivers from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates to receive urgent treatment in various health institutions. These are but a few out of the many patients that remain on the over 12,000 list that are still in dire need of evacuation.

The world cannot just turn its head away as New Year 2025 in Gaza becomes a metaphor for unending suffering. Israel must be brought to book and held accountable for its actions that have been generally condemned, particularly the attacks on hospitals. Healthcare facilities have come under unjustifiable attacks, prompting the United Nations to call for proper investigations.

Humanitarian aid should be increased to address the immediate needs of Gaza’s displaced people. Shelter and medical supplies must be adequately provided, while protection for civilians must be ensured, all in an effort to help reduce the suffering of Palestinians worldwide.