Residents and Hamas media reported Israeli tanks advancing farther into Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. Meanwhile, airstrikes severely damaged Rafah in the southern half of the Strip. The tanks were shielded from intense air and ground fire.
Tanks were attempting to move forward through the center of Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historically significant camps for refugees. Locals reported that clusters of buildings had been demolished by air attacks and that tank shells were landing in the middle of the camp.
Hundreds of Palestinians who were staying in shelters were forced to leave by Israeli military.
Israel intensified air and ground bombardments on the eastern parts of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border. An airstrike on a house in the Brazil neighborhood resulted in casualties.
Residents report fierce fighting blocking off Salahuddin Road, which divides the eastern portion of the city. Israeli tanks are currently stationed east of it. The eastern portion of Rafah, according to locals, is still a “ghost town”.
According to the Hamas armed wing, Israeli forces and gunmen from the group were fighting with guns on a roadway east of Rafah and east of Jabalia.
The Israeli military repeatedly activated sirens in the vicinity of Gaza to alert the public. Transitioning, this action aimed to warn of possible cross-border rocket and/or mortar launches by Palestinians.
The Israeli military claimed late on Saturday that troops stationed in Jabalia were keeping Gaza’s ruling Hamas group from regaining its military strength there.
Saed, 45, a resident of Jabalia, told Reuters via a chat app on Sunday, “They were bombing everywhere, including near schools that are housing people who lost their houses.” “War is restarting, this is how it looks in Jabalia.”
The army withdrew its tanks from Zeitoun and Al-Sabra. Locals reportedly claimed intense bombing in these areas, which destroyed multiple homes, including apartment buildings with multiple stories.
Without a post-war strategy for Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned Israel on Sunday that it may face an insurrection there.
The health ministry in Gaza reports that at least 35,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s military campaign in the region. The shelling has destroyed the seaside community and resulted in a serious humanitarian situation.
According to Israeli estimates, a Hamas-led onslaught on southern Israel on October 7 resulted in over 1,200 fatalities and at least 250 hostages. This strike set off the war.
More than half of the 620 troops Israel claims have died in the combat happened during the first Hamas attack.
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