Israel launches heavy strikes throughout central and southern Gaza after widening its offensive

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched heavy strikes throughout central and southern Gaza in a single day and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive in opposition to Hamas to extra areas the place the navy had informed Palestinians to hunt shelter earlier within the struggle.

Residents reported heavy bombing within the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis and within the southern city of Rafah, areas the place tens of 1000’s have sought refuge as a lot of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble.

“It was a night of hell. We haven’t seen such bombing since the start of the war,” stated Rami Abu Mosab, talking from the Bureij camp, the place he has been sheltering since fleeing his house in northern Gaza.

He stated warplanes flew overhead and gunfire and explosions echoed from the jap fringe of the camp – which, like others in Gaza, homes refugees from the 1948 struggle surrounding Israel‘s creation and their descendants and now resembles other densely populated neighborhoods.

A home near Abu Mosab’s shelter was hit, however nobody was in a position to attain the world, he stated. Mobile cellphone and web service was down for a number of hours earlier than being steadily restored on Wednesday, the newest of a number of such outages which have difficult rescue efforts.

With a lot of northern Gaza leveled, Palestinians concern an analogous destiny awaits different areas, together with Khan Younis, the place Israeli forces launched floor operations in early December, and a cluster of built-up refugee camps in central Gaza the place the main focus has shifted this week.

The navy’s newest evacuation orders cowl an space of central Gaza that was house to just about 90,000 individuals earlier than the struggle and now shelters greater than 61,000 displaced individuals, principally from the north, in keeping with the U.N. humanitarian workplace.

Israel has stated the bombing marketing campaign and floor offensive are essential to dismantle Hamas and forestall a repeat of its Oct. 7 assault, wherein militants broke via Israel’s formidable defenses and killed some 1,200 individuals – principally civilians – and kidnapped round 240. An estimated 129 stay in captivity after dozens have been freed.

Achieving its objectives, Israel has stated, will take “many months.”

Its offensive is already some of the devastating navy campaigns in current historical past. More than 20,900 Palestinians, two-thirds of them girls and kids, have been killed, in keeping with the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The rely doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Some 85% of Gaza‘s population of 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their homes, crowding into smaller and smaller areas in recent weeks as the ground offensive has expanded. For many Palestinians, the exodus has echoes of the mass displacement in 1948 that they refer to as the Nakba, or catastrophe.

U.N. officials say a quarter of the territory’s inhabitants is ravenous beneath Israel’s siege, which permits in a trickle of meals, water, gasoline, medication and different provides. Last week, the U.N. Security Council referred to as for instantly rushing up assist deliveries, however there was little signal of change.

U.S. requires Israel to curb civilian casualties, and worldwide stress for a cease-fire, have additionally had little impact.

Israel blames Hamas for the excessive civilian loss of life toll in Gaza as a result of the militants function in dense, residential areas. The navy says it has killed 1000’s of militants, with out presenting proof, and that 164 of its troopers have been killed because the floor offensive started.

The struggle has ignited different fronts throughout the Middle East.

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group have repeatedly traded fireplace alongside the border. An Israeli strike on a household house in a single day killed a Hezbollah fighter, his brother and his sister-in-law, native officers and state media stated Wednesday. Another member of the family was wounded.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed a minimum of six Palestinians throughout an in a single day raid within the built-up refugee camp of Nur Shams, in keeping with the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed within the West Bank because the begin of the struggle, principally in confrontations with Israeli forces throughout raids and protests.

As fears of a wider battle mount, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been engaged on a brand new settlement to launch extra hostages. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the ruling emir of Qatar on Tuesday.

Hamas says no extra hostages will likely be launched till Israel ends the struggle, and that it’ll commerce the remaining captives for big numbers of Palestinian prisoners, together with high-profile militants. Israel has rejected each calls for.

Egypt has floated a proposal to finish the struggle that would come with the discharge of all hostages held in Gaza and all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, in addition to the institution of a authorities of Palestinian technocrats to manage Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

It has obtained a cool reception from either side, however neither rejected it outright.

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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo.

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Find extra of AP’s protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war