Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours after Israel continued with its intense bombing campaign across the north and south of Gaza for a third day since the end of the truce with Hamas.
Guardian quoting Israeli military said: it(Israel) has expanded its ground operation to all of Gaza.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] continues to extend its ground operation against Hamas centres in all of the Gaza Strip,” the report quoted spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
“The forces are coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them,” Hagari was quoted as having said.
Earlier, the report said Jabaliya refugee camp in the north was hit, “with initial reports saying tens of people were killed and at least one residential block destroyed. Video footage showed people searching for bodies under the rubble.”
The report said about 300 people were reported to be sheltering in the vicinity of the latest strike, in a camp area that has been targeted repeatedly by Israel over the past month. It was not possible to verify exact casualty numbers.
“Heavy bombing was also reported in the southern city of Khan Younis, increasingly the focus of Israeli attacks, while its military demanded further evacuation of civilians from areas of the city, telling them to head south to Rafah or to the west,” it said.
On Sunday night, the report mentioned there were reports of clashes between Hamas and Israeli troops a mile from the city.
Israel’s government spokesperson, Eylon Levy, said the military had struck more than 400 targets over the weekend “including extensive aerial attacks in the Khan Younis area” and had also killed Hamas militants and destroyed their infrastructure in Beit Lahiya in the north.
“Gaza residents had said earlier on Sunday they feared an Israeli ground offensive on the southern areas was imminent. Tanks had cut off the road between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, effectively dividing the Gaza Strip into three,” the report said.
Ismael al-Thawabteh, the director general of the government media office in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that more than 700 Palestinians had been killed in a 24-hour period to noon.
The report quoting health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said later that 15,523 Palestinians had been killed since the start of the war, including 316 dead and 664 wounded “in the past hours”. Seventy per cent of the dead were women and children, it said.
An estimated 1.8 million people are internally displaced, up from a previous figure of 1.7 million, according to UN’s OCHA humanitarian agency. Images showed Palestinians trying to leave parts of Khan Younis in line with Israeli demands to evacuate.
