In a 24-hour period, the Israeli Air Force claimed to have bombed 600 targets in Gaza, including weapons storage, hiding areas, gatherings of Hamas members, and anti-tank positions.
A fighter plane hit a building containing ‘almost 20 Hamas terrorist operatives,’ according to the military. In another case, a fighter jet was directed to an anti-tank missile launch site near Al-Azhar University.
Israel also claimed to have hit sites in Syria and Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, the attacks were in retaliation to attacks conducted from both countries.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, “During clashes with terrorists in the Gaza Strip, IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels and attempted to attack the troops.” Heavy fighting has also been reported in northwest Gaza by Hamas.
According to Save the Children, the number of children killed in Gaza in three weeks “has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019.” In the Israeli-Gaza conflict, almost 3,000 children have been killed.
On Sunday, the Israeli military issued another urgent call to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip to flee southward, away from the heart of the assault against Hamas.
“Relocating southward is for their personal safety,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the top spokesperson, stated on Sunday.
“We are emphasizing today that this is an urgent call,” he stated during a televised briefing. He also stated that the number of Palestinians verified to be taken hostage in Gaza since Hamas’ cross-border incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7 had risen to 239.
Israel also said that its ground forces killed seven Hamas terrorists as they evacuated a tunnel near the Erez crossing, which had previously been the only pedestrian entrance from Gaza into Israel before it was destroyed in the recent fighting.
