By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – At least 42 people were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave, the director of the Hamas-run government’s media office said.
An Israeli attack on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in an attack on houses in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood.
The Israeli military issued a brief statement saying: “Recently, IDF fighter jets attacked two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the Gaza City area.”
He said more details would be released soon.
Hamas did not comment on Israel’s claim that it had attacked its military infrastructure. He said in a statement that the attacks were aimed at civilians and promised in a statement that “the occupation and its Nazi leaders will pay the price for their violations against our people.”
Footage obtained by Reuters showed dozens of Palestinians running out in search of victims among the destroyed houses. Images showed smashed houses, shattered walls and debris and dust filling the streets of the Shati refugee camp.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
The offensive left Gaza in ruins, killed more than 37,400 people, of whom 101 died in the last 24 hours, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left almost the entire population homeless and destitute.
More than eight months into the war, Israel’s advance is now focused on the last two areas its forces had yet to capture: Rafah on the southern edge of Gaza and the area around Deir al-Balah in the center.
Residents said Israeli tanks deepened their incursion into the western and northern areas of Rafah in recent days. On Saturday, Israeli forces bombed several areas from air and ground, forcing many families living in areas described as humanitarian designated areas to flee north.
The Israeli military said forces continued “precise and intelligence-based” targeted operations in Rafah, killing many Palestinian gunmen and dismantling military infrastructure.
On Friday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Mawasi, west of Rafah, and 50 were wounded. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.
The Israeli military said the incident was under review. “An initial investigation conducted suggests that there is no indication that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) carried out an attack in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area,” he said.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting by Jaida Taha and Ari Rabinovitch Editing by Sharon Singleton and Frances Kerry)