39 dead in Israeli attacks in northern Gaza Strip

DEIR AL-BALAH (GAZA STRIP): At least 39 people were killed in Israeli air strikes in the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian officials and hospital officials said.

Fadel Naem, director of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, said more than three dozen bodies had arrived at the hospital. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency relief group active in Gaza, said it had recovered about the same number of bodies from a building hit by an Israeli strike in an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City. Israel said on Saturday its fighter jets had struck two Hamas military bases in the Gaza City area, but gave no further details. The deaths came a day after at least 25 people were killed in attacks.

Israel said on Saturday it was continuing its operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip and proceeding with the invasion of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.

Another Israeli attack in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley on Saturday killed a member of the military wing of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), a Sunni Muslim faction closely allied with Hamas, the group said. The member was the seventh to be killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the war began.