Israeli strikes kill at least 42 people in Gaza, enclave government press office says By Reuters
Written by Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – At least 42 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City in the northern Palestinian territories on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-affiliated government’s media office said.
Another Israeli strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of eight historic refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in a housing strike in Al-Tuffah neighborhood.
The Israeli military released a brief statement saying: “In a short period of time, IDF warplanes hit two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the Gaza City area.”
It said more information will be released soon.
Hamas has not commented on Israel’s claim that it hit military infrastructure. It said in a statement that this attack was aimed at people and vowed in a statement that “the occupation and its Nazi leaders will pay the price for their abuse of our people.”
Pictures obtained by Reuters show dozens of Palestinians rushing to look for victims among the collapsed houses. The video showed destroyed homes, blown-out walls, and debris and dust littering the road in the Shati refugee camp.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The attack left Gaza in ruins, killing more than 37,400 people, 101 of whom were killed in the past 24 hours, according to Palestinian health authorities, and leaving almost all the people homeless and destitute.
More than eight months after the start of the war, Israel’s advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces still had to hold: Rafah on the southern edge of Gaza and the area around Deir al-Balah in the center.
Residents say Israeli tanks have deepened their infiltration in areas west and north of Rafah in recent days. On Saturday, the Israeli army bombed several areas from the air and on the ground, forcing many families living in areas described as relief zones to leave the north.
Israel’s military said troops continued “precision, intelligence-based” operations in Rafah, killing dozens of Palestinian gunmen and destroying military infrastructure.
On Friday, the Gaza Health Ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Mawasi west of Rafah and 50 were injured. The Palestinians said that a tank shell hit the families living in the tent.
The Israeli military said the incident was under review. “The first investigation carried out reveals that there is nothing to indicate that the strike was carried out by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi,” it said.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting by Jaida Taha and Ari Rabinovitch Editing by Sharon Singleton and Frances Kerry)
