40 killed in Israeli strikes on residential buildings as Gaza death toll nears 20,000

At least 40 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in fresh Israeli air raids on residential buildings across the besieged territory.

According to reports on Tuesday, December 19, at least 29 people lost their lives in the Israeli aerial assaults that targeted three houses in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Many more are also feared trapped under the rubble.

Palestinian journalist Adel Zourob was among the victims of the deadly attack.

Another Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured many others at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry said.

More fatalities were also reported from Israeli attacks in the city of Deir el-Balah, as well as Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.

UN slams Israel's impunity, calls for ‘special tribunal’

In an interview with The Financial Times on Monday, Martin Griffiths, head of UN humanitarian operations, said that a “special tribunal” for the Gaza war may be necessary as the Israeli genocide continues with complete impunity and no accountability.

“The impunity that goes along with the choosing of war as your first option has never been greater. And the impunity for killing humanitarian aid workers has never been greater... Impunity we have seen rampant in this war... Maybe there is a need for a special tribunal [for Gaza],” he said.

Gaza most dangerous place for children: UNICEF

The UN’s children’s agency, UNICEF, said entire neighborhoods in Gaza, where children used to play and go to school, have been turned into stacks of rubble.

“The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” UNICEF Middle East and North Africa said in an X post on Monday. “Children need an immediate, long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire.

Israel waged the bloody war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 19,453 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,286 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.