Israel carries out operations in northern Gaza, steps up pressure on Rafah
Israel sent tanks to Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday after a night of intense air and ground operations that left at least nineteen dead and dozens injured, according to Hamas health services. cited by the Reuters agency.
The Jabaliya camp is the largest of eight refugee camps in the Palestinian enclave on Saturday evening, the Israeli army said the aim of the operations was to prevent Hamas from reestablishing its military capabilities there.
“In recent weeks, we have identified attempts by Hamas to rehabilitate its military capabilities in Jabaliya. We are operating there to eliminate these attempts”, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told the press. According to this officer, Israeli forces operating in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza killed around 30 Palestinian militants.
The new incursion has forced many families to flee. The army also sent tanks into the Zeitoun neighborhood in the eastern suburbs of Gaza City, as well as the Sabra neighborhood, where residents reported heavy shelling that included destroying high-rise apartment buildings. . The Israeli army claimed to have taken control of most of these areas months ago.
In Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, residents and Hamas media reported the presence of Israeli tanks and bulldozers on the outskirts of the town, sparking a shootout with Hamas fighters. During an airstrike on the city on Saturday evening, two doctors, a father and his son, were killed, health authorities said overnight.
The armed wing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad declared for their part that their fighters had attacked the Israeli army in several areas of Gaza with anti-tank rockets and mortar shells, notably in Rafah, where more than one person had taken refuge. million people.
Meanwhile, thousands of families continue to leave the town of Rafah, in the south of the enclave, where the Israeli army on Saturday issued evacuation orders for certain neighborhoods in the center of the town bordering Egypt .