At least 70 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday after Israel resumed its bombing campaign and ground operations in the enclave, a Gaza health official said.
Medics said Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. Asked for comment, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
The military has resumed its air assaults on Gaza since Tuesday and launched ground operations on Wednesday, effectively abandoning a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas that had held since January.
It said on Thursday that its forces had been engaged for the past 24 hours in what it described as a targeted ground operation to expand a buffer zone separating the northern and southern halves of Gaza, known as the Netzarim corridor.
Israel ordered residents to stay away from the Salahuddin road, the main north-south route, and said they should travel along the coast instead.
Tuesday’s first day of resumed airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians, one of the deadliest days of the war. At least 510 Palestinians have been killed in the past three days, more than half of them women and children, Khalil Al-Deqran, the spokesperson of the territory’s health ministry told Reuters.
In a blow to Hamas as it sought to rebuild its administration in Gaza, this week’s strikes have killed some of its top figures, including the de facto Hamas-appointed head of the Gaza government, the chief of security services, his aide, and the deputy head of the Hamas-run justice ministry.
Hamas, severely weakened but still standing, has not hit back even though Israel has warned the latest onslaught was only the beginning.
The militant group said the Israeli ground operation and the incursion into the Netzarim Corridor were a “new and dangerous violation” of the two-month-old ceasefire agreement. In a statement, it reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire deal and called on mediators to “assume their responsibilities”.
A temporary first phase of the ceasefire ended at the start of this month. Hamas wants to move to an agreed second phase, under which Israel would be required to negotiate an end to the war and withdrawal of its troops, and Israeli hostages held in Gaza would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel has offered only a temporary extension of the truce, cut off all supplies to Gaza and says it is restarting its military campaign to force Hamas to free remaining hostages.
The resumption of air strikes has sent Palestinian residents again fleeing for their lives from homes they had begun to reinhabit among the ruins of the devastated enclave.
Some Palestinians who tried to use the Salahuddin road said they saw cars come under fire from Israeli troops advancing towards Netzarim. The fate of the passengers in the vehicles was unknown.
“Bulldozers protected by some tanks were heading to the west coming from the areas where they are stationed near the fence east of the Salahuddin road,” one taxi driver told Reuters, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
He said it had become clear the Israelis were advancing on Netzarim when Egyptian and foreign inspectors stationed there under the ceasefire abruptly withdrew.
Some residents turned to social media to report the disappearance of some relatives, while others reported cases to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Hamas official said mediators had stepped up their efforts with the two warring sides but added that “no breakthrough has yet been made”.
Hamas has yet to make clear threats to retaliate in response to the Israeli escalation. Asked why the group had not yet responded, the Hamas official said it was “giving a chance for things to be contained”.
Some residents said there were no signs yet of preparations by Hamas on the ground to resume fighting.
But an official from one militant group allied to Hamas told Reuters on Thursday that fighters, including from Hamas, had been put on high alert awaiting further instructions.
“Fighters and leaders of the resistance were also advised to avoid the use of cellular phones as a means of precaution,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.
The war started after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities in October, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities, with the enclave reduced to rubble.
Source: Reuters
--Agencies
