Israeli air strike kills Hamas Gaza City commander
Heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip has continued into Wednesday as Israeli forces launched intensive raids on various locations across the besieged coastal territory.
Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, confirmed that its Gaza City commander, Bassem Issa, was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other senior members of the group.
Local sources said Israeli fighter jets bombed sites belonging to Palestinian armed groups, in addition to security and police buildings. In Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, a pregnant woman, Reema Telbani and her child were killed by an Israeli attack on their home.
Gaza’s ministry of health said the overall death toll since the latest offensive began stood at 53, including 14 children. More than 300 others have been wounded.
Six Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said that about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
Youmna Al Sayed, a journalist reporting from Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that Israeli missile strikes have hit the 14 storey Shorouq tower in the city – which is home for lots of media offices in the Gaza Strip and is in a very densely populated area.
She said it had been hit by a couple of “warning” missiles, then a full missile strike.
“I can assure you that the aftermath of the destruction of this tower is going to be just terrible,” she said.
She said the Sharouq building has three to four offices of media outlets on each of its 14 storeys, while the ground floor has restaurants and a bank, and the Gaza strip’s only major mall is opposite the tower. She said the building is not used by Hamas fighters.