The death toll in Gaza from Israel’s 12-week bombardment has now topped 22,000. Over 200 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours. In one of the deadliest incidents, an Israeli strike on a home in central Gaza killed 15 people.

This comes as the Biden administration has bypassed Congress again to approve selling Israel nearly $150 million in artillery munitions.

Over the weekend, the Israeli Defense Forces announced it would withdraw some of its troops in northern Gaza, while saying the attack on Gaza will continue throughout 2024. The IDF said the pullback was made in part to “alleviate economic burdens.”

On Sunday, on New Year’s Eve, one 12-year-old Palestinian in a Rafah refugee camp reflected on the events of the past year.

Layan Abu Kuwaik: “This year is a nightmare for every child in Gaza, for every man and woman, for every elderly man and woman in Gaza. … God willing, in 2024, I wish when I wake up on January 1st to discover that this was all a dream, to wake up at home on January 1st, for the war to end, for our suffering to end, for this tragedy to end. I wish for everything to go back to how it used to be. I wish that we could go back to our homes. I wish this is all a dream. Every day we wake up and pray it is all a dream — rather, a nightmare. Unfortunately, it is reality, a bitter reality.”