Israeli forces on Sunday advanced into the Shejaiya area in northern Gaza and also penetrated south into western and central Rafah, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.
Residents reported that Israeli tanks that returned to Shejaiya four days earlier shelled several homes, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave.
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his stance that there is no alternative but victory in the war against Islamist terror group Hamas.
“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel, and returning our residents safely to their homes in the south and north,” he said.
While the offensive was focused on Gaza, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, one person was killed and five were wounded in an Israeli attack near the town of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The group said the dead man was an active Islamic Jihad member. The Israeli military issued no comment.
Just hours after Netanyahu’s comments about Gaza, Hamas’ armed wing released a video showing them manufacturing weapons in protest.
The video, which Reuters did not immediately confirm, showed fighter jets preparing anti-tank rocket warheads. In the background, a large TV screen was showing recent news, suggesting the video was recent.
“Our preparations continue,” the short film ends with the caption.
The Israeli military said forces operating in Shejaiya killed several Palestinian gunmen in the past day and seized military infrastructure inside a UN school as well as dozens of weapons and “valuable intelligence documents.”
On Saturday, the army announced the deaths of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.
In another raid in Shejaiya, security forces discovered a “terrorist war room” in a clinic, the army said, and accused Hamas of “infiltrating civilian structures for terrorist purposes.”
Hamas denies using civilian sites such as schools and hospitals for military purposes.
Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad’s armed wing reported heavy fighting in both Shejaiya and Rafah, saying their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli forces operating there.
More than eight months after Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza, militants continue to attack Israeli forces. They are operating in areas the Israeli military said it had regained control of months ago.
Ceasefire efforts halted
Efforts by Arab mediators backed by the United States have stalled. Hamas says any agreement must end the war and lead to a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only a temporary pause in the fighting until Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is wiped out.
According to Israeli figures, the war began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
Israel’s counter-offensive has so far killed nearly 38,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and left much of the heavily built-up coastal zone in ruins.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but officials say most of the dead are civilians. More than 300 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza and Israel says at least a third of the Palestinians killed were combatants.
On Sunday, Israeli tanks pushed deep into several districts in the east, west and centre of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, and medics said six people were killed in an Israeli attack on a house in Shaboura, in the centre of the city.
The six bodies of the Zurub family were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the nearby town of Khan Younis, where dozens of relatives paid their respects.
Residents said Israeli forces set fire to the Al-Awda Mosque in centre of Rafah, one of the city’s most famous mosques.
Israel has said its military operation in Rafah is aimed at eliminating the last armed battalions of Hamas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)