Israel’s latest airstrike targeted a Hamas command center near Khan Yunis. However, Gaza’s civil defense reported that a tent camp was hit.
The Israeli Air Force says it has attacked an Islamist Hamas command center located in a humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. According to the Director of Supplies at the Civil Defense in Gaza, at least 40 people were killed in the air strike and more than 60 were injured. Tents housing internally displaced people were hit. According to the Israeli military, numerous measures were taken before the precision-guided ammunition attack to reduce the risk of civilians being harmed.
The army did not provide any information on possible casualties during the night. It only stated that terrorists had attacked Israeli troops and the State of Israel from the zone in Khan Yunis in the south of the contested coastal area. Hamas stated on its Telegram channel that Israel’s claim that its fighters were in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone near Khan Yunis was “a blatant lie”.
In July, Israel’s military bombed a fenced-off facility in the humanitarian zone between Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi, which Israel said served as a base for Hamas terrorists. Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif and the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, Rafa Salama, were killed in the attack. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 90 people were killed and another 300 injured in the massive airstrike.
Authorities report around 41,000 dead Palestinians in Gaza
Deif is considered one of the masterminds of the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 last year. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel and around 250 others were taken hostage to Gaza. The unprecedented massacre triggered the war. According to local authorities, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began has risen to almost 41,000. The number does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is difficult to verify.
According to the United Nations, the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip is on track. In the completed second of three phases, more than 446,000 children have been reached in the fight against the highly contagious virus, said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York. That corresponds to almost 70 percent of the total number of 640,000 children to be vaccinated. The third phase of the campaign is set to begin today, in which children in the north of the sealed-off Gaza Strip will receive the oral vaccine.
Relatives Forum: Hamas hostages in terrible condition
According to Israeli figures, 101 people are still being held by Hamas, although it is unclear how many of them are still alive. According to their relatives, the abductees are being held in horrific conditions. The forum of the families of the abductees announced that an initial investigation by the army into the fate of six of the most recently killed hostages had shown that the murdered hostages had previously been “held in narrow underground tunnels with little air.” They had suffered from extreme malnutrition and weight loss and had “clear signs of long-term physical neglect,” it said. The results of the investigation had been presented to the relatives. The army made no official comment on the matter.
According to military sources, the six bodies were found in a tunnel in the Rafah area in southern Gaza a week ago and brought to Israel. The hostages had been deliberately killed by the kidnappers shortly beforehand. A Hamas spokesman, however, said they had died in Israeli bombardment.
The hostages were held in a tunnel about 80 centimeters wide in which they could not stand or move freely, the relatives’ forum said in a statement. They also had no access to showers or toilets. Not even the “most basic human needs” were respected. “Some of them had untreated injuries from the time of their kidnapping, and signs of being tied up were found on one of them,” it said.
Israeli TV station Channel 13 reported that the six bodies were found next to each other. Forensic examinations showed that the abductees “wanted to defend themselves and protect each other” before they were killed. They had obviously fought with their tormentors before they were shot. “The evidence shows that they fought for their survival right up to the end before all six were brutally murdered,” it said.
Still no progress on the hostage deal
“These revelations provide indisputable evidence that the hostages still being held in Gaza are in grave danger,” the forum stressed, calling for an immediate deal with Hamas for their release. However, indirect negotiations for their release, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have been going in circles for months. The multi-stage agreement under discussion would also include an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Critics accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to torpedo the conclusion of such an agreement with excessive demands – such as the permanent presence of the Israeli military in strategic locations in Gaza. Netanyahu governs in a coalition with right-wing extremist parties that reject any concessions to Hamas and threaten to collapse the government.
Israel stops UN convoy – alleged suspects on board
Meanwhile, Israel’s army says it has stopped a UN vehicle convoy in northern Gaza to question suspects. The military said the reason for this was “intelligence information indicating that a number of Palestinian suspects were inside.” The vehicles were used to transport UN staff.
The Israeli TV station Kan reported that two suspicious Palestinians had “infiltrated” the convoy and barricaded themselves in one of the vehicles. Israeli soldiers fired warning shots. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told the German Press Agency: “At this point, I can only say that we are aware of an ongoing incident involving UN personnel and vehicles.”
The already tense relationship between Israel and the United Nations has been further strained by the war. Israeli officials have repeatedly linked employees of the UN Palestinian relief agency with terrorists. Last month, according to the United Nations, a UN vehicle carrying humanitarian aid was shot at in a convoy by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army announced an investigation into the matter.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
