Israel strikes kill at least 11 in Gaza, tanks push further into Rafah
Image
CAIRO: (Reuters) Two Israeli air strikes targeting aid supplies killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, medics said, as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Rafah in the south and fought their way back into areas in the north they had already subdued months ago.

One strike at a food distribution centre in Gaza City, near the Shati historic refugee camp, killed three people. Another, near Bani Suhaila town in the southern Gaza Strip, killed at least eight, including guards who accompany aid trucks, the medics said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which denies attacking aid efforts and accuses militants of causing harm to civilians by operating among them.

Overnight, an Israeli air strike at a medical clinic in Gaza City killed the director of Gaza’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, the enclave’s health ministry said. Israel’s military said that strike had killed a senior Hamas armed commander.

Also read: Ahead of ICJ ruling, Israeli forces kill 13 people in Rafah airstrikes

The health ministry said the killing of Hani al-Jaafarawi brought the number of medical staff killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 7 to 500. At least 300 others have so far been detained.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the phase of intense fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is about to end, but that the war would not end until the Palestinian militant group no longer controls the enclave.

Once the intense fighting is over, Netanyahu said, Israel will be able to redeploy more forces to the north border with Lebanon, but primarily for "defensive purposes."

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday reported attacks on Hamas’ infrastructure in southern Gaza’s Rafah. In central Gaza, the Israeli army continued military operations, killing numerous militants and seizing weapons. Israel also launched airstrikes on Gaza City in the north on Sunday morning.

Also read: At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said its soldiers hit Israeli army targets in Gaza City, Rafah and central Gaza with mortars and rockets, killing several Israeli soldiers.

Gaza media reported fierce gunfighting between Jihad and Israeli soldiers at multiple locations in Rafah on Sunday.

In a statement issued on early Monday morning, Hamas said Netanyahu’s expression clearly exposes his objection to a ceasefire resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council and also a peace deal proposed by the United States.

Hamas called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel, stop its war against the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, it urged the U.S. government to stop supporting genocide wars in Gaza and against the Palestinian people.