Israeli bombardment kills at least 21 in Gaza as fighting rages
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Palestinians resting near houses destroyed by the Israeli military in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
PHOTO: REUTERS
CAIRO – Israeli air strikes on Oct 1 killed at least 21 people in Gaza, as the Israeli military said it has been targeting command centres used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli strikes on two houses in Nuseirat, one of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps.
Another strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City killed at least seven people.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the air strike targeted Hamas militants operating from a command centre embedded in a compound that previously served as the Al-Shejaia School.
The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant factions said in separate statements that their fighters attacked Israeli forces operating in several areas in Gaza with anti-tank rockets, mortar fire and explosive devices.
The renewed surge in violence in Gaza comes as Israel began a ground operation in Lebanon, saying its paratroopers and commandos were engaged in intense fighting with another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah.
The conflict follows devastating Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah’s leadership.
The operation into Lebanon represents an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran-backed militants that threatens to suck in the United States and Iran.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel almost a year ago, in support of its ally Hamas in the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas staged the deadliest assault in Israel’s history on Oct 7.
More than 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, were killed in that assault. Hamas took over 250 hostages.
That set off the war that has devastated Gaza, displacing most of the enclave’s 2.3 million population and leaving more than 41,600 Palestinians dead.
Some Palestinians said they feared that Israel’s shift in focus to Lebanon could prolong the conflict in Gaza, which marks its first anniversary next week.
“The eyes of the world now are on Lebanon while the occupation continues its killing in Gaza. We are afraid the war is going to go on for more months at least,” said Mr Samir Mohammed, 46, a father of five from Gaza City.
“It is all unclear now as Israel unleashes its force undeterred in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and God knows where else in the future,” he told Reuters via a chat app. REUTERS
