Israel pounds central Gaza, sends tanks into north of Rafah
Send a link to a friend
[July 17, 2024]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip
on Wednesday, killing at least nine Palestinians, according to health
officials, while Israeli tanks carried out a limited advance further
into Rafah in the south.
In one Israeli air strike around midnight on a house in Al-Zawyda in the
central Gaza Strip, eight people were killed, the health officials said.
Another strike killed a man in Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave's eight
refugee camps, where 23 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a
school a day ago.
Israeli tanks also shelled the eastern areas of Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi
camps in the centre of enclave, residents said. An air strike destroyed
a mosque, residents said.
Meanwhile in Rafah, tanks carried out a raid in the north of the city
before retreating, a tactic Israeli forces have used in other areas
before mounting deeper incursions. Tanks have operated in most parts of
the city since May, although have not gone deep into the northern
districts.
Medics said an Israeli strike killed two people in Rafah on Wednesday,
while residents said the forces had blown up dozens of homes.
The Israeli military said troops were "continuing precise,
intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area". It said it
they had eliminated what it called a terrorist cell and a launcher that
had been used to fire at troops.
It said airstrikes had struck 25 targets throughout the Gaza Strip
during the past day and that troops were continuing to operate in the
central area, including to dismantle structures used to observe the
soldiers.
Nine months into the war, Palestinian fighters led by the Islamist Hamas
group are still able to attack Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets,
and mortar bombs and from time to time fire barrages of rockets into
Israel.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people
and took over 250 hostage in an attack on southern Israeli communities
on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
On Tuesday, the military said it had eliminated half of the leadership
of Hamas' military wing, with about 14,000 fighters killed or captured
since the start of the war.
At least 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory
offensive since then, Gaza health authorities say. Israel says 326 of
its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jul/17/images/ads/current/library_lda_HEROES_2024.png)
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/071724PIX/news_h16.jpg)
Palestinians inspect the damage as the collapsed minaret of Abdullah
Azzam mosque leans against a house after the mosque was hit by an
Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee
camp in the central Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jul/17/images/ads/current/bees_lda_HEROES_2024.png)
HAMAS DENIES WARCRIMES
Diplomatic efforts by Arab mediators to halt the hostilities, backed
by the United States, seem to be on hold, but officials from all
sides have said they are open to more talks, including Israel and
Hamas, who have traded blame over the current impasse.
A deal would aim to end the war and release Israeli hostages in Gaza
in return for many Palestinians jailed by Israel.
On Wednesday, Israel released 13 Palestinians detained during the
military offensive in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a
statement. The freed inmates were transferred to a hospital in the
central Gaza Strip for treatment.
Many of the hundreds of Palestinians Israel has released in the past
months have accused Israeli forces of ill-treatment and torture. The
Palestinian Prisoner Association said nearly 20 Palestinians had
died in Israeli detention after being detained from Gaza. Israel
denies allegations of torture.
Meanwhile, in a report published on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch
said Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, and at least four
other Palestinian armed groups "committed numerous war crimes and
crimes against humanity against civilians during the Oct. 7, 2023,
assault on southern Israel".
According to its findings, these included "deliberate and
indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects;
wilful killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhumane
treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; hostage taking;
mutilation and despoiling of bodies; use of human shields; and
pillage and looting".
In response, Hamas rejected "the lies and blatant bias" towards
Israel and demanded Human Rights Watch withdraw its report and
apologise.
"The Human Rights Watch report adopted the entire Israeli narrative
and moved away from the method of scientific research and the
neutral legal position, and became more like an Israeli propaganda
document," Hamas said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Editing by Alison
Williams)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |