Israel and the world welcomed the new year early Wednesday with celebrations and well-wishes, though festivities in the southern city of Netivot and in surrounding communities were interrupted at midnight when the Hamas terror group fired rockets from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas took responsibility for the fire, and the Israel Defense Forces said two rockets were launched from the central Gaza Strip, with one intercepted and the second striking an open area.
There were no injuries in the attack.
It was the second year in a row in which the Palestinian terror group has fired rockets to coincide with the end of the year. Last year, it fired a large barrage at central Israel.
But this year, celebrations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and much of the country went ahead as normally as could be, given the pains of almost 15 months of war prompted by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
Bars and pubs were packed, but at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, activists for the 100 hostages Hamas is still holding in Gaza lit a Hanukkah-themed candle display using the new year to call once again for a ceasefire and hostage deal.
מיצג מואר בכיכר הבימה עכשיו
בקריאה לעסקת חטופים עכשיו
להצלת והשבת כל 100
החטופים ????️
עם כניסת השנה הלועזית החדשה – 2025טל א.מ pic.twitter.com/n935Au9Myi
— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) December 31, 2024
Meanwhile in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, where masses of displaced Palestinians are staying in crowded tents amid the war on Hamas, resident Wafaa Hajjaj told AFP: “May security and safety return, and may the war finally come to an end.”
Elsewhere, Umayyad Square in Damascus hummed to the throngs of people brandishing “revolution” flags as Syria saw in the new year following 13 years of civil war — even as soldiers patrolled the capital’s streets.
“Keep your head high, you are a free Syrian”: Thousands sing in downtown Damascus as they ring a new year like no other for Syria since 1971. Their first with no Assad: pic.twitter.com/aZNaawz1qQ
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) January 1, 2025
Damascus tonight
Video: Amr Abdullah Dalsh pic.twitter.com/MlWFl1968B
— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) December 31, 2024
“Now I have a lot of hope. But all we want now is peace,” taxi driver Qassem al-Qassem, 34, told AFP.
It was Syria’s first new year celebration in 54 years held without the Assad family in power, after Islamist forces recently ousted president Bashar al-Assad.
In Dubai, thousands attended a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper.
Fireworks explode at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, during the New Year’s Eve celebration, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
In Britain, thousands of people lined the banks of London’s River Thames for a firework extravaganza, though bad weather saw events canceled in other cities, including Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party.
Fireworks light up the sky around the London Eye on the south bank of the River Thames to celebrate the New Year in London, Britain, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
And in the United States, President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his ultimatum to Hamas to release the hostages it is holding in Gaza by the time he takes office on January 20.
At a New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump was asked by a CNN reporter whether he had spoken recently to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a potential ceasefire and hostage deal, talks for which appear to have hit a snag.
On New Year’s Eve at Mar-A-Lago Trump states that, “They better let the hostages come back soon.”pic.twitter.com/ZzmfAuJGUp
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 1, 2025
“We’re gonna see what happens,” Trump replied, before adding: “I’ll put it this way: they better let the hostages come back soon.”
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