At least 49 dead in Israeli attacks on northern Gaza

According to the Israeli military, at least 49 people were killed in three Israeli air strikes in the north of the Gaza Strip. Two of them targeted Hamas’ “military infrastructure” in the city of Gaza.

The death toll was announced by Palestinian officials, who said Saturday’s airstrikes on Al Shati camp killed 24 people, 18 in the Al Tuffah neighborhood and seven in the Zeitoun area.

“We are having difficulty reaching the victims of the bombing in the Al-Shati camp. Our capabilities are not sufficient to reach the extent of the destruction,” said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense.

“Our teams have recovered a number of martyrs and injured people, mainly women and children, following the attack on Al Shati camp. We are asking for your support to enable us to carry out our tasks. We are having difficulties in obtaining the fuel necessary for our work,” added Mr Bassal.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip said the deaths in Al Shati were the result of “targeted attacks on seven houses” in the camp on the coast west of Gaza city.

The Israeli military announced on Twitter that “fighter jets attacked two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the Gaza City area.” Army radio reported that the target was a high-ranking Hamas official.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said the official was Raed Saad, the operational commander of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Israeli army radio had previously reported that an assassination attempt on him in March had failed.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army attacked areas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday morning, killing at least two people and wounding 10 others, Wafa reported.

The injured were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the report added. In addition, fighter jets carried out air strikes in the center of Rafah.

In central Gaza, one person was killed and another injured in artillery shelling near the power plant north of Nuseirat.

The latest attacks came a day after at least 25 Palestinians were killed and 50 others wounded in the Al Mawasi humanitarian zone in western Rafah. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident. “An initial investigation indicates that there is no evidence that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an attack in the humanitarian area in Al Mawasi,” it said.

Witnesses told rescue workers that they heard artillery fire in two places, said Ahmed Radwan, spokesman for the civil defense first responders in Rafah.

Wafa also reported on Saturday that Israeli gunfire had occurred in the western areas of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, including the Al Mawasi area, injuring numerous people.

The attacks forced dozens of families to flee from western Rafah and Khan Younis to the central areas.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that troops would continue to conduct “intelligence-based, targeted operations” in the Rafah area.

A statement said troops had destroyed “terrorist” infrastructure in the area over the past day and eliminated several insurgents in close combat.

It said troops were also deployed in the central Gaza Strip, where several militants were killed and infrastructure destroyed.

At least 37,551 Palestinians and 85,911 other people have been killed in Israel’s war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry on Saturday.

Violence in the West Bank

The Israeli army said on Saturday that an Israeli civilian was shot dead in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

An army statement said troops were deployed in the area and “IDF and Israeli police forces are investigating the circumstances of the incident.”

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces had stormed the city and that vehicles were in use there.

Violence in the West Bank, which had already been increasing before Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, has escalated as a result of increased Israeli military attacks, settler violence and Palestinian street attacks.

On Friday, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian gunmen in a shootout during a raid in Qalqiliya, Israeli police said.

In Jenin, two men were injured by Israeli forces during a raid on the Al Jabariyat district.

Wafa said the men were shot dead as Israeli forces surrounded a house in the neighborhood and ordered residents to leave. Medical teams were denied access to the area, it said.

Updated: June 22, 2024, 12:17 p.m.