Scores of Palestinians killed, wounded as Israel keeps pounding Gaza Strip

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in violent artillery and airstrikes launched by the Israeli army in the central Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.

The Israeli army continued its incursion into the Bureij Palestinian refugee camp as part of the latest phase of its ground operations in its war that has been ongoing for 85 days.

Meanwhile, army artillery bombed areas east of the Rafah crossing after violent clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters.

Fierce clashes broke out Friday night and continued until Saturday afternoon in areas east of the Bureij refugee camp, during which violent explosions occurred, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Israeli tanks heavily bombed areas east of Bureij camp, witnesses added.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Hamas group's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that its fighters “managed to completely destroy a Zionist troop carrier north of the Bureij camp with a shell.”

Al-Qassam also announced it bombed an Israeli tank with a Shawaz-type explosive device north of Bureij, and targeted another with a shell in the same area.

Meanwhile, the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said that its fighters “engaged in violent clashes with enemy soldiers in the north of the Bureij camp and caused casualties among their ranks.”

- Relentless bombing

The Israeli army launched airstrikes on the Al-Zawaida area and the Bureij, Nuseirat, and Al-Maghazi camps in Gaza, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.

In the central Gaza Strip, witnesses stated that Israeli artillery vehicles violently bombarded the vicinity of Salah al-Din Street and its adjacent areas, east of the Nuseirat camp.

Several Palestinians were also killed and others were injured in a bombing that targeted a house for the Al-Wawi family near the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Nuseirat.

Israeli aircraft bombed another house belonging to the Al-Nuwairi family, in Al-Nuseirat, resulting in several deaths and injuries, according to eyewitnesses.

Three Palestinians were injured by Israeli army snipers in the Al-Maghazi camp, medical sources told Anadolu.

According to medical sources at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah, more than 100 people were killed and 160 injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of the central region during the past 24 hours.

Palestinians displaced from the Bureij camp told Anadolu that the Israeli forces carried out a massive arrest campaign against Palestinians who were unable to leave the camp, especially those who remained in shelter centers.

- Clashes in Rafah

In the far south of the Gaza Strip, violent clashes broke out between Israeli forces penetrating east of the city of Rafah and Palestinian resistance fighters, according to local sources.

The sources reported that the clashes took place near the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, near the border fence with Israel and also to the east of the Rafah crossing, during which Israeli forces used artillery shells extensively.

In the city of Khan Younis, Israeli forces continued their ground operations in the east, north and center of the city, in addition to the aerial bombardment carried out by Israeli aircraft on several homes in the city.

This coincides with clashes erupting at frequent intervals between resistance fighters and army forces in eastern and central Khan Younis.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that its fighters “engaged in fierce clashes with enemy soldiers north and east of the city of Khan Younis.”

In Gaza City and the North Governorate, Israeli warplanes launched dozens of raids in the early hours of Saturday, targeting homes, apartments, empty plots of land, and roads, resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians, according to Palestinian medical sources.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21,507 Palestinians and injuring 55,915, according to local health authorities.

Israeli authorities claimed that the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi