Israeli forces carry out air, ground attacks in Gaza; dozens dead By Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli offensives in Gaza killed at least 53 Palestinians, including a journalist and rescue workers, medics said, and the Israeli military said air and ground forces in the north of the area had killed dozens of militants and captured others.

It was stated that Al Jazeera TV video reporter Ahmed Al-Louh and five other people, medics and journalist friends died in the air attack on the civilian emergency center in the Nuseyrat market area in the center of the Gaza Strip. Another attack on a house in Nuseyrat camp killed five people, including children, medics said.

The television channel condemned Israel, saying Al-Louh was working when he was killed.

The Israeli army said that the attack targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants operating in the Gaza Civil Defense’s Nuseyrat office. He named Al-Louh as a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group without providing evidence.

Al Jazeera did not immediately comment on Israel’s claim but condemned Israel’s previous claims that some journalists from the Qatar-owned network killed in the Gaza war were named as members of militant groups.

Hamas media said Nedal Abu Hjayyer, chief of the civilian emergency service in Nuseyrat, was also killed.

“The civil emergency headquarters in Nuseirat camp was hit during the crew’s presence, the crew is working day and night to serve the public,” Zaki Emadeldeen from the civil emergency service told reporters at the hospital.

Another airstrike hit a group of Hamas-affiliated men tasked with guarding aid trucks west of Gaza City, and medics said several people were injured but exact figures were not available.

At least 11 people were killed in three Israeli airstrikes on homes in Gaza; Nine people were killed when several houses were bombed or set on fire in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and the Jabalia camp; Two people were killed in Rafah, including medics and local residents. in question.

The Israeli army said three houses in Gaza belonged to militants planning imminent attacks. It was stated that steps were taken to reduce the risk to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.

The army released a photo showing weapons, including explosives and dozens of grenades, seized in Beit Lahiya.

At least 20 people, including women and children, were killed in an airstrike on a shelter sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, medics said.

Residents of Beit Hanoun said that Israeli forces surrounded the families taking shelter at the Khalil Aweida school, then attacked the school and ordered them to go towards Gaza city.

Health officials said that many people were killed and injured during the raid, and the army detained many men.

The army said it shot down dozens of militants from the air and on the ground in Beit Hanoun and captured others.

Reuters could not confirm whether any of the dead were combatants. Hamas does not disclose its casualties, and the Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in its death toll.

Israel says militants in Gaza regularly mingle with civilians and use them as human shields. Hamas denies this.

HOSTAGES

Separately, Israel said planes hit a command and control center at the Abu Shabak clinic in northern Gaza, which Hamas uses to store weapons and plan attacks. Gaza’s health ministry said the medical center was destroyed.

Palestinians accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing in order to reduce the population in the northern tip of Gaza and create a buffer zone. Israel denies this and says the campaign targets Hamas militants. The army announced that it had instructed civilians to evacuate war zones for their own safety.

According to Israeli officials, the war began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.

Israel then launched an air and ground offensive that killed nearly 45,000 people, mostly civilians, according to officials in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The campaign displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the region in ruins.

Efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach a ceasefire, including a hostage agreement, have gained momentum in recent weeks, but there has been no news of any progress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he spoke with US President-elect Trump, who returned to the White House on January 20, about efforts to ensure the release of the hostages.

“We discussed the necessity of completing Israel’s victory and spoke at length about our efforts to release our hostages,” Netanyahu said Sunday. he said.

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Howard Goller and Diane Craft)