By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Hatem Khaled
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip’s historic refugee camps within the centre of the enclave and struck Gaza Metropolis within the north on Thursday, killing no less than 21 individuals, and tanks pushed deeper into Rafah within the south, well being officers and residents mentioned.
A barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed 16 in Zawayda city, Bureij and Nuseirat camps and the overcrowded metropolis of Deir-Al-Balah, the final main city centre in Gaza to not be invaded by Israeli forces, well being officers mentioned.
In Gaza Metropolis within the north, medics mentioned 5 Palestinians have been killed in two separate strikes.
The Israeli army mentioned in an announcement its forces killed two senior Islamic Jihad commanders in two airstrikes in Gaza Metropolis, together with one whom it mentioned had taken half within the Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel that triggered the Gaza warfare.
In Rafah, residents mentioned Israeli tanks superior deeper within the western aspect of town and took place on a hilltop there. The Israeli army mentioned forces positioned a number of tunnels and killed a number of gunmen.
At Al-Amal Hospital, run by the Palestinian Crimson Crescent Society, in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Palestinian well being officers exhumed no less than 12 our bodies buried contained in the medical facility to rebury them at one other location.
Reuters footage confirmed medical staff digging up our bodies from graves inside the power, wrapping them in white shrouds earlier than putting them inside autos for switch to a brand new burial website as some kin watched, some in tears.
Areej Hamouda, a mom of one of many lifeless, clutched a number of the sandy earth from the grave of her son and kissed it earlier than medics exhumed the physique.
“They (Israel) shot him and he had a loaf of bread with him, which he needed to beg for to get for his daughter, they shot him within the eye and the top – it rained on him, he was washed with blood,” Hamouda mentioned, weeping.
“He was (mendacity) there all day lengthy, they weren’t in a position to transfer him, (then) they pulled him with a rope once they introduced him to be buried right here.”
STRETCHED TO BREAKING POINT
The preventing has pushed the 60-bed Crimson Cross subject hospital in Rafah to the brink of capability, the Worldwide Committee of the Crimson Cross (ICRC) mentioned in an announcement on Thursday.
“The repeated mass casualty occasions ensuing from the unrelenting hostilities have stretched to breaking level the response capability of our hospital – and all well being amenities in southern Gaza – to look after these with life-threatening accidents,” mentioned William Schomburg, head of the ICRC’s subdelegation in Gaza.
Greater than one million individuals had sought shelter in Rafah from preventing additional north, however most have scattered once more since Israel launched an offensive in and across the metropolis in Could to root out brigades of militant group Hamas working there.
Greater than 9 months into the warfare, Palestinian fighters led by Hamas are nonetheless in a position to assault Israeli forces on the bottom, sometimes firing rocket barrages into Israel.
Islamic Jihad mentioned it fired missiles at two southern Israeli communities on Thursday and the armed wing of Hamas mentioned it fired mortar bombs at Israeli forces in southwest Rafah. There was no speedy remark from the Israeli army.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 individuals and took greater than 250 hostage within the Oct. 7 assault, in response to Israeli tallies. Greater than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza well being authorities say.
On Tuesday, Israel mentioned it had eradicated half of the management of Hamas’ army wing and killed or captured about 14,000 fighters because the begin of the warfare. Israel says 326 of its troopers have been killed in Gaza.
Hamas does not launch figures of casualties amongst its ranks and mentioned Israel was exaggerating to painting a “faux victory”.
Diplomatic efforts by Arab mediators to halt the hostilities, backed by the US, seem on maintain, although all sides say they’re open to extra talks, together with Israel and Hamas.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; further reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem, Clauda Tanios in Dubai and Hatem Khaled in GazaEditing by Ros Russell)
