Israel-Hamas War Update: Airstrikes Hit Gaza City and Casualties Reported
At least two Israeli airstrikes rocked Gaza City on Saturday, sending rescue workers rushing to the scene amid destruction and unconfirmed reports of high casualties.
Many details remain unclear, but the Israeli military said its fighters targeted “Hamas military infrastructure” at two locations in the Gaza City area, without specifying detail. Rescue workers and Gazan residents said there were multiple deaths and injuries at the scene, and at least one of the strikes was large enough to create huge clouds of dust.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense emergency rescue organization, said more than 30 people were killed and 50 injured in separate attacks in at least three neighborhoods in Gaza City. – Tuffah, Shujaiyya and Shati – and other victims are believed to still be trapped under the rubble.
Casualty figures could not be independently verified and Gazan authorities do not distinguish between civilians and combatants when reporting casualty figures.
It is unclear who or what target the Israeli air strikes are aimed at. Since the start of the war, Israel has sought to assassinate senior members of Hamas in Gaza, including militant commanders and Hamas’s leader in the area, Yahya Sinwar. While Israeli forces have had some success in killing mid-level figures, Mr. Sinwar and most leaders have succeeded in evading them.
Hamas has taken advantage of urban areas in Gaza to provide an extra layer of protection for its militants and weapons infrastructure, running tunnels under residential areas, launching rockets near homes and capturing children. News in the city center. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, said that the group tries to keep Palestinian civilians from harm.
Mr. Basal said all three attacks took place around noon and targeted buildings in residential areas. Rescuers are trying to reach people under the rubble, he said, “but our resources are limited.”
Mohammad Haddad, 25, who lives in Shati, heard “three or four loud explosions” before a cloud of gray dust covered the neighborhood. Mr. Haddad said that when the dust settled, he ventured to the site of the strike.
The shelling hit six or seven homes in the same residential area, Mr. Haddad said, destroying them. He said he saw about a dozen people killed and many others injured.
“On the way, I saw people scattered on the ground,” some injured and others killed, he said in a phone call. “There are so many, I can’t count them.”
Human rights groups say Israel’s criteria for signing strikes during its campaign are too lenient when it comes to civilian casualties. An airstrike in late October targeted a Hamas militant commander in northern Gaza causing dozens of deathsincluding women and children.
In recent days, Israeli military attacks have mainly focused on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where Israeli forces have been operating for the past month and a half. Many of the millions of Gazans sheltering there fled to the nearby Al-Mawasi area, a coastal area in the southern Gaza Strip, on orders from the Israeli army, which designated the area This is a “safer area”.
On Friday, up to 25 people were killed and 50 injured in tents for displaced people in Al-Mawasi, according to aid agencies and Gaza health officials. The Israeli military said its initial investigation showed “no signs” of an attack in a “safer zone.” It did not say whether it had struck elsewhere in the area.
Since the start of the war, Israeli military officials have said they would seek to target Palestinian militants wherever they operate, but have not ruled out striking areas where they are located. considered safer.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Contributed reporting from Haifa, Israel.
