Israel continued its military advance into Gaza, with fierce urban firefights between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, taking place from the Jabalia camp in the north to the city of Rafah in the south, which borders Egypt.
In the now largely destroyed northern district of Jabalia, residents said Israeli tanks destroyed clusters of houses but were facing stiff resistance from fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas, which rules Gaza, and the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Wednesday. .
“They are bombing houses on top of their inhabitants,” said Abu Jehad.
The PIJ claimed to have killed some Israeli soldiers in Jabalia, while the Israeli military claimed to have eliminated many fighters in the area.
Israel sent troops back to areas in northern Gaza earlier this week after claiming it had defeated Hamas months ago.
The Israeli military ordered further evacuations of the al-Manshiya and Sheikh Zayyed neighborhoods in northern Gaza. The United Nations estimates that around 100,000 people have been forcibly expelled from the north in recent days.
In Gaza City, several people were killed after Israeli forces attacked a group of Palestinians at the intersection of Jalaa Street and al-Oyoun Street, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
At least three bodies arrived at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, as well as several critical cases, Wafa said.
The death toll in this attack, which targeted an internet meeting point, is expected to rise, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud.
“This is not the first time we have seen this pattern of attacks on civilians gathered in large groups, whether at food distribution points or internet connection points, or even at a solar-powered point to charge their phones or computers,” said Mahmoud.
Palestinian health officials said at least 82 Palestinians had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
‘Revengeful’ attacks
Hamas condemned the attacks against civilians across the Strip, saying they are “fascist and vengeful” acts that reflect the “defeated” state of the Israeli army.
In Rafah, Israeli tanks have concentrated around the eastern limits of Rafah and, in recent days, have been searching urban areas of the city, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought shelter from shelling elsewhere in Gaza.
Residents said Israeli forces invaded three neighborhoods and that Palestinian fighters were trying to prevent soldiers and tanks from moving toward the center.
Aid groups, including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), have warned that they are facing significant disruptions to their humanitarian operations as the Israeli army moves into the city to conduct its widely criticized ground offensive.
“I recently returned from Gaza, where the scale of the crisis defies the imagination. Facilities in southern Gaza have been turned into makeshift shelters that overflow into the streets,” said Kiryn Lanning, IRC team leader for the occupied Palestinian territory.
“This displaced population now faces acute shortages of basic needs such as food, water and adequate sanitation,” Lanning added.
Last week, after the Israeli army seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt – a vital entry point for humanitarian aid – the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA warned that hospitals in southern Gaza were only days short of fuel to run their operations and that the entry of fuel into the Strip was essential to prevent further deaths.
Sporadic deliveries of aid to Gaza by truck have declined since Israeli forces took control of the Gaza side of the crossing on May 7.
A convoy carrying humanitarian aid goods was looted by far-right Israelis on Monday after crossing Jordan through the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “there is no humanitarian catastrophe” in Rafah, where around 450,000 people have been expelled from their shelters since last week, according to the UN.
As fighting intensifies, ceasefire negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt have reached an impasse, with Hamas demanding a permanent end to attacks and Netanyahu’s government saying it will not stop until the group be annihilated.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to produce a clear plan for Gaza’s post-war future.
Netanyahu has opposed the creation of an independent Palestinian state, which most foreign powers see as the only long-term solution.
He said that any move to establish an alternative to Hamas as the government of Gaza required that the Palestinian group be first eliminated and demanded that this objective be pursued “without excuses”.
His remarks, in a video statement posted online, followed a public challenge from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who accused the government of avoiding a serious discussion about a proposal for a non-Hamas post-war Palestinian administration.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh reiterated that the group rejects any post-war agreement that does not include Hamas.
“We are here to stay,” Haniyeh said in a statement late on Wednesday, adding that the group stands by its demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
