GAZA: Israel said on Tuesday its troops had killed dozens in the north of the Gaza Strip in the past day, while a total of 22,185 Palestinians have been killed and 57,035 wounded in the strikes on since Oct.7, nearly three months of warfare in the enclave.
Residents said heavy fighting was also raging in central areas, citing shelling by Israeli tanks of parts of the Al-Bureij refugee camp.
Some 207 Palestinians were killed and 338 were wounded in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said.
The latest fighting took place after Israel announced plans to pull back some troops, signalling a new phase in the war amid global concern over the plight of Gaza residents.
Israeli bombardments have reduced much of the territory to rubble and engulfed its 2.3 million residents in a humanitarian disaster in which many have been left destitute and threatened by famine due to a lack of food supplies.
In its daily briefing, the Israeli military said that in the past day its forces had targeted groups in Gaza City in the north of the enclave and in unspecified locations along the Mediterranean coast.
"In Jabaliya area, troops killed dozens, among them those who attempted to plant explosive devices, others who operated drones and those who were armed identified driving toward the forces," the military said.
Troops also seized weapons and dismantled rocket launchers in Khan Younis in the south and in a United Nations school in Al-Bureij, Israel's military said.
Gaza residents said Israeli war planes and tanks stepped up bombardments of the eastern and northern areas of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge after being forced from their homes elsewhere in the densely-populated territory.
An Israeli official said the situation on the border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Lebanese fighters have exchanged artillery fire almost daily, would not be allowed to continue.
At a house in the centre of Khan Younis, medical teams retrieved the bodies of two women killed in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday morning, health officials said.
Palestinian groups said in separate statements they had fired mortar bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces in Khan Younis and were stopping them advancing to the western area. Tanks have been stationed east, north and at the centre.
15 Israeli soldiers have been killed after triggering an explosive minefield east of the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City. — Reuters
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