Israeli strikes kill 29 people in Gaza, medics say, as tanks push deeper in the north By Reuters

Written by Nidal Al-Maghribi

CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed at least 29 Palestinians and forces continued their incursion into the Jabalia area, where international relief agencies say thousands of people are trapped, medics said.

Residents said that Israeli forces continued to bomb Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, the largest of the historical refugee camps, from the air and the ground.

19 people were killed in Gaza overnight, and 10 others were martyred on Saturday evening after Israel bombed two homes in Jabalia and the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Medics said the death toll could rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

The Israeli military on Saturday issued new evacuation orders for two neighborhoods on the northern edge of Gaza City, which is also north of the Strip, saying the area is a “dangerous combat zone.”

In a statement, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza urged residents not to move within the northern areas of the Strip as well as to avoid heading south “as the occupation conducts continuous bombing and killing every day in areas it claims are safe.”

The Israeli army said it was conducting operations against Hamas fighters who were using civilian buildings, and said that clear evacuation instructions had been issued in recent days to areas including Kamal Adwan Hospital.

She added that an evacuation convoy to transport patients from the hospital to Gaza City arrived on Saturday carrying fuel for the facility.

In recent days, the army said that forces operating in Jabalia and neighboring areas killed dozens of militants, found weapons, and dismantled military infrastructure.

It said on Saturday that more than 20 fighters were killed by tank fire, close-range gunfire and air strikes as forces continued operations across the Gaza Strip.

The operation began in this area a week ago, and the army said at the time that it aimed to fight militants who launched attacks and prevent Hamas from reorganizing its ranks. Hamas denies that its fighters deliberately use civilian areas as bases.

Palestinian health officials estimated the number of people killed in Jabalia over the past week at about 150.

Lack

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in Gaza. They also expressed concern about severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies in northern Gaza, and said there was a risk of famine there.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which aims to eliminate the armed Hamas movement, has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians since it began a year ago, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and has wreaked havoc on the Strip.

The war began after a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, on communities in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli statistics.

Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that the “massacre committed by Israel against civilians” aims to punish Jabalia residents for refusing to leave their homes. She also said it was a sign of the IDF’s failure to defeat the group.

Israel denies targeting civilians.

The armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other smaller factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and neighboring areas with anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.

UN officials said on Friday that the Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza could affect the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign scheduled to begin next week.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Saturday that the campaign will begin on Monday in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and will continue for three days before moving to other areas.

Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a child was partially paralyzed by type 2 polio virus in August, the first such case in the province in 25 years.

As in the first phase, the fighting is to be halted on humanitarian grounds in Gaza, in order to reach hundreds of thousands of children.