Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah
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[June 26, 2024]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on
Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in
the south of the Palestinian enclave.
Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in
western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north
amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said
fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar
bombs.
Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on
Gaza's southern edge, where around half of the enclave's 2.3 million
people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since
had to flee again.
Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike
in Rafah earlier on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said in a statement its forces killed a Hamas
militant who had been involved in the smuggling of weapons through the
border between Rafah and Egypt.
It said jets struck dozens of militant targets in Rafah overnight,
including fighters, military structures and tunnel shafts.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, an Israeli air strike
destroyed a house, killing four Palestinians and wounding several
others, medics said.
Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led
militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200
people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli offensive in retaliation has so far killed 37,658 people,
the Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday, and has left the tiny, heavily
built-up Gaza Strip in ruins.
More than eight months into the war, international mediation backed by
the U.S. has failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any deal
must bring an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza,
while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until
Hamas is eradicated.
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Destroyed buildings are pictured in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict
between Israel and Hamas, as seen near the Gaza coast, June 25,
2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGE
In the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians complained of a severe lack
of food and soaring prices, and health officials said thousands of
children were suffering from malnutrition that has already killed at
least 30 since Oct. 7.
"There is only flour and canned food, there is nothing else to eat,
no vegetables, no meat, and no milk. I have lost over 25 kilos of my
weight," said Abu Mustafa, who lives in Gaza City, with his family.
Their house was struck in the past week by an Israeli tank, that
destroyed most of the upper floor, forcing them to stay in the lower
floor. "No safe places exist in Gaza anyway," he said.
"Apart from the bombing, there is another Israeli war taking place
in northern Gaza, starvation. People meet in the street and many
can't recognise one another because of weight loss and older looks,"
Abu Mustafa told Reuters via a chat app.
Gaza remains at high risk of famine, though delivery of some aid has
limited the projected spread of extreme hunger in northern areas, a
global monitor said on Tuesday.
More than 495,000 people across the Gaza Strip are facing the most
severe, or "catastrophic", level of food insecurity, according to an
update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)
a global partnership used by the United Nations and aid agencies.
That is down from a forecast of 1.1 million in the previous update
three months ago, but is still more than one-fifth of Gaza's
population.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Alex
Richardson)
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