Maghazi Massacre: Israel Kills Over 100 Civilians in Christmas Eve Bombing

Maghazi Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip, Palestine — With over 100 dead and counting, the Christmas Eve massacre at the Maghazi refugee camp has become one of the deadliest Israeli bombings on Gaza since October 7. Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said that the bombings of the camp in a crowded residential square are acts of an ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians.

Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a survivor of the bombing, told Unicorn Riot the bombing was “[more] massive and horrific destruction than we had ever imagined before.”

As of Dec. 27, 2023, more than 21,100 Palestinians have been killed and over 55,200 wounded — over 70% of whom are women and children — due to the unprecedented-in-recent-history U.S.-backed Israeli bombing of the densely populated Gaza Strip.

After the bombing, horrific scenes of the attempted recovery of dead bodies and the injured from the rubble were broadcast to the internet. Civil defense and ambulance crews face great difficulties attempting to recover bodies under the rubble from thousand-pound bombs being dropped on concrete buildings due to the lack of necessary equipment and fuel — both prevented by the Israeli occupation as they continue their seventeenth year of besiegement of the Gaza Strip and are entering into their third straight month of indiscriminate bombardment of civilians.

Abu Rahma said residents of the Maghazi Refugee Camp never received any warning to evacuate, which is typical before Israeli strikes on residential houses. Israel is reportedly investigating the strikes.

“We were sitting inside the house, safe, as you know, and at sunset everyone was inside their house. Suddenly we were targeted by a very huge missile, and we could not see anything and fog prevailed everywhere. As we tried to inhale the air, smoke entered our mouths. We fled, not knowing where to go, and our hands and feet were torn apart. The hands of the children and adults and everyone in the place were torn. Thank God we got out in peace, but I don’t know what to say.”
Mahmoud Abu Rahma, survivor of the Maghazi massacre

Over 1.9 million of the estimated 2.3 Palestinians that reside in Gaza have now been internally displaced, a number that exceeds 80% of the population. According to the Gaza Government Media Office, of the 21,110 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7 are 8,800 children, 6,300 women, 3,111 medics and medical staff, 40 civil defense staff and over 100 journalists. More than 7,000 people also remain missing.

Two days after the deadly bombing, 80 Palestinians were buried in a mass grave at Tal Al-Sultan Cemetery in Rafah, see video below.