By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Israeli airstrike on a medical clinic in Gaza City killed the director of Gaza’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, the enclave’s Health Ministry said, while the Israeli military said the attack had killed a senior Hamas armed commander.
The Health Ministry said the killing of Hani al-Jaafarawi raised to 500 the number of medical personnel killed by Israeli fire since October 7. So far, at least 300 others have been detained.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the attack targeted Mohammad Salah, who it said was responsible for Hamas’ weapons development.
“Salah was part of a project to develop strategic weaponry for the Hamas terrorist organization, and commanded several Hamas terrorist squads working on weapons development,” it said.
More than eight months after the fighting, US-backed international mediation has so far failed to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any agreement must end the war, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli forces who took control of the eastern, southern and central parts of the city continued their incursions into the western and northern areas, residents said, describing heavy fighting.
On Sunday, residents said Israeli tanks had advanced to the edge of the Mawasi displaced persons camp in northwest Rafah, forcing many families to leave north to Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. , the only city in the enclave where tanks have not yet invaded.
“The situation in Tel Al-Sultan, west of Rafah, remains very dangerous. Israeli drones and snipers are pursuing people trying to control their homes, and tanks continue to take over the areas overseeing Al-Mawasi further west “Bassam said. a resident of Rafah.
“We know of people killed in the streets and we know and see that the occupation had destroyed dozens of houses,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Israel denies attacking civilians and blames Hamas for causing civilian casualties by fighting among themselves, which Hamas denies.
The Israeli military said forces continued “targeted intelligence-based operations” in Rafah, locating weapons and rocket launchers and killing militants “who posed a threat to them.”
In the north of the enclave, where Israel had said its forces had completed operations months ago, residents said tanks had returned to the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun and were attacking several areas there.
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.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left Gaza in ruins.
Since early May, fighting has centered on Rafah, on the southern edge of Gaza, where about half of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents had taken refuge after fleeing other areas.
Netanyahu said the phase of intense fighting against Hamas would end “very soon” but that the war would not end until the Islamist group no longer controls the Palestinian enclave.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, he said Gaza-based forces would be freed to move north, where Israel has warned of a possible full-blown war against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which has hit the border region in what he says is solidarity with the Palestinians.
“Once the intense phase is over, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces to the north. And we will do so,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Peter Graff)