Israel pounds Gaza as truce talks drag on
Authorities in Gaza reported dozens of new air strikes in the central region where most Israeli troops have regrouped in recent days
Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza as talks for a truce and captives release dragged on.
Authorities in Gaza reported dozens of new air strikes in the central region where most Israeli troops have regrouped in recent days.
Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck more than 60 targets in Gaza over the previous day. The Gaza media office said 25 people were taken to hospital in Deir al-balah “as a result of an air strike on a house”.
Mohammed al-rayes, 61, said that he fled Israeli “air strikes and artillery shelling” in Nuseirat overnight. “It was all fire and destruction, with so many martyrs lying in the street,” he said.
Another resident, Laila Nasser, 40, reported “shells and missiles” throughout the night. “They will do to Nuseirat what they did to Khan Yunis,” said Nasser, vowing to flee to the southernmost city of Rafah, like most of Gaza’s population.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 33,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The latest bombardments in Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defences and paused leave for combat units.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s fighting groups said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions on Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south.
The Israeli army said approximately 40 launches were identified, some of which were intercepted. “No injuries were reported,” it added.
The violence has so far killed at least 363 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 70 civilians, according to a tally. In Israel, the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.
Washington has ramped up pressure on Netanyahu to increase aid flows to Gaza in the face of UN warnings of imminent famine.
The Israeli army said that an undisclosed number of aid trucks had been allowed to enter Gaza on Thursday through a newly opened border crossing into the north of the territory.
“The first food aid trucks entered through the new northern crossing from Israel into Gaza yesterday,” the Israeli defence ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, said.
Despite repeated requests for comment, Israeli authorities did not disclose the exact location of the new crossing, which Israeli media reported to be close to the Zikim kibbutz.
Gallant had trumpeted the new crossing on Wednesday, promising to “flood Gaza with aid”, but on Thursday the UN Security Council said “more should be done”.