At least six Palestinians were killed and numerous homes were destroyed as Israeli forces moved deeper into the Shejaia neighborhood in northern Gaza and into western and central Rafah in the south yesterday, according to locals.
Families were stranded inside their homes and unable to escape as Israeli tanks, which had returned to Shejaia four days prior, opened fire on multiple houses, according to the locals.
Speaking Monday at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his belief that winning the war against Hamas was the only option.
“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he added.
The Israeli military reported that over the previous day, forces stationed in Shejaia had killed multiple Palestinian gunmen, discovered weapons, and attacked military equipment. It declared the deaths of two Israeli troops in northern Gaza on Saturday.
Hamas’ armed branch and the affiliated Islamic Jihad claimed that its militants had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces stationed in Shejaia and Rafah, citing intense combat in both areas.
Even after Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza lasted for more than eight months, Hamas fighters are still attacking Israeli forces, even in places that the Israeli army claims it has taken control of for months.
The US-backed efforts of Arab mediators have not been successful in securing a truce thus far. Reuters is informed that Hamas demands that any agreement bring an end to the offensive and a complete Israeli departure from Gaza.
Israeli tanks advanced farther into a number of east, west, and central neighborhoods of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border. According to medical personnel, an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, the city’s center, claimed the lives of six individuals.
The six Zurub family members’ remains were taken to Khan Younis, a nearby city, and placed in Nasser Hospital. Dozens of family members visited the dead yesterday, laying lamentations before them in white shrouds before carrying them in their arms to ready-made graves.
One of the most well-known mosques in the city, the Al-Awda mosque in the center of Rafah, was set on fire, according to locals.
According to information released yesterday by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, Israel’s attack has killed at least 37,877 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians. At least 43 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, according to it.
The Israeli military reported Wednesday that its soldiers were still conducting “targeted, intelligence-based” operations in Rafah, demolishing tunnels and killing many militants in various confrontations.
A top Palestinian Hamas official stated in Beirut on Saturday that there has been no progress in talks with Israel about a truce in Gaza and a deal for the release of hostages. This is according to AFP.
The US news outlet Axios reported that “three sources with direct knowledge” claimed Washington had submitted “new language for parts of” the proposed agreement.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative stationed in Lebanon, stated on Saturday that although the Islamist movement had received the most recent proposal on June 24, it contained “nothing new.”
