73 killed in Beit Lahia, 33 in Jabalia as Israel presses on with punishing offence in north Gaza

At least 73 people in Beit Lahia and 33 in the neighbouring city of Jabalia lost their lives as Israel unleashed a new set of attacks in Northern Gaza. The latest attacks came just days after the Jewish nation was confirmed that Hamas’s chief Yahya Sinwar was killed in a military operation. In the city of Beit Lahia, Hamas-run authorities are fearing a rise in the death toll as many continue to remain trapped in the rubble.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) said that it was checking reports of casualties. However, they maintained that the figures published by Hamas were “exaggerated” and did not match the preliminary information obtained by the military.

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The strikes in the city came just hours after reports emerged that there was “heavy gunfire” from Israeli troops at the Indonesian Hospital in the city. The authorities in Gaza noted that rescue efforts in the region are currently hampered due to communications and internet services being severed in the region. The Gaza officials insisted that the bombing hit “crowded’ residential areas.

Israel conducts air strike on a refugee camp in Gaza

Beit Lahia was not the only city in Gaza that faced the wrath of Israel. Over three dozen people were killed after an Israeli airstrike pounded the Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday. The Hamas-controlled health authorities stated that 33 people died and dozens were wounded in the incident which took place near the Nassar junction in Jabalia.

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The recent spat of attacks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will continue with its operation in Gaza until the living 101 hostages are returned to the Jewish nation. However, many of Israel’s allies saw the killing of Sinwar as an opportunity to call for a ceasefire between the two warring parties.

The IDF stated that they launched an offensive in Jabalia and other parts of north Gaza to target the efforts by Hamas to regroup in the region and launch another attack against Israel. “Israel is intensifying its targeting of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip . . . and its insistence on putting them out of service”, the Gaza health ministry said.

On the same day of the attack in Gaza, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residential property was targeted in a drone strike in Caesarea. The prime minister’s office confirmed that the premier’s home was the target but that Netanyahu and his wife were not present and no one was hurt.

“The agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake,” Netanyahu said in response to the attack. “This will not deter me and the State of Israel from continuing the war . . . against our enemies to ensure our security for generations,” he added.

With inputs from agencies.