Israel continued on Saturday with its campaign against Hamas in Jan Yunisin the Gaza Stripwhile the bad weather lashed out at displaced Palestinians who were seeking shelter further north of the battered enclave.
Residents reported a intense aerial and tank fire in Khan Yunisan area in the south of Loop which became the focus of the Israeli ground offensive against Hamas, and around two main hospitals in the area.
Hamas He claimed that his fighters had fired a anti tank missile against a israeli tank in the southwest of Jan Yunis.
The Israeli military said it killed at least 11 gunmen who tried to plant explosives near troops and others who fired rifles and rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers in Khan Younis.
The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, said its fighters were clashing with Israeli forces in the area and had fired rockets into Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry stated that the Israeli strikes hit the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital and the largest operating medical center in the south, Nasser Hospital.
Israeli bombings were compromising healthcare and endangering the lives of doctors, patients and displaced people, declared ministerial spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra.
The Israeli military says it is in contact with hospital directors and medical staff by phone and in the field to ensure they are functioning and accessible. Israel claims that Hamas operates in and around medical facilities, a charge the group denies.
In a ruling issued Friday, the International Court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire but ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later stated that the war aimed at eliminating Hamas would continue.
In the southern city of Rafah, Zainab Khalil, 57, displaced with her family several times until they reached a shelter not far from the border with Egypt, said the court’s ruling is important but not enough. “We want a ceasefire now,” she said.
Residents and Hamas militants reported clashes on Saturday in the central and northern parts of the enclave, where heavy rains flooded the tents of displaced people, forcing some to seek alternative shelter in the middle of the night.
In Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is now sheltering in shelters and tents, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike killed three people in a house. It was not clear who the victims were and the Israeli military had no immediate comment.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Fadi Shana.-
Source: Ambito
