The Israeli army continued its military operation against the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to media reports, a house in the al-Maghasi refugee district in the center of the Gaza Strip was bombed. A spokesman for the health authority controlled by Islamist Hamas said today that at least 33 people were killed the night before and more than 100 were injured.
The Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera reported 45 deaths, citing doctors present at the scene. The information could not be independently verified. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant spoke of “intense fighting” and troops entered residential areas.
Hamas said most of the victims of the attack on the al-Maghasi refugee camp were women and children. An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking whether the Israeli army was deployed in the area at the time.
Israel: Hamas abuses schools and hospitals
A journalist from the Turkish news agency Anadolu told AFP that his house partially collapsed when an airstrike hit his neighbors’ house in the al-Maghasi refugee camp. Two of his children were killed. Israel accuses Hamas of using refugee camps as well as UN schools and hospitals as hideouts and weapons depots. Hamas denies this.
The Israeli army claims to have attacked more than 2,500 targets during its ground operations in the Gaza Strip. This was done in conjunction with the Air Force and Navy. Troops continued to “eliminate terrorists” in hand-to-hand combat, the army said this morning.