The attacks come two days after Israel ended a two-month truce with Hamas, restarting airstrikes and launching ground operations.
Renewed fighting and civilian toll
Medics said the strikes hit multiple residential areas in northern and southern Gaza. The Israeli military, which says its goal is to expand a “buffer zone” in the territory, has not commented on the reported casualties.
More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday alone, the deadliest day of the conflict so far. Local authorities put the death toll since then at over 510, including many women and children.
The Israeli operation this week killed several top Hamas officials, including the group’s de facto government head, security chief, and deputy justice minister.
While Hamas condemned the incursion as a “new and dangerous violation” of the January ceasefire, it has yet to retaliate militarily. Israel, meanwhile, says it aims to force Hamas to release Israeli hostages captured during the group’s October 2023 attack on Israeli communities.
Evacuations and ground operations
Palestinian residents once again fled ruined neighborhoods after Israeli tanks and bulldozers advanced toward the coastal city’s main north-south highway. Witnesses described cars coming under fire on the Salahuddin road, prompting fears of further casualties.
A temporary first phase of the truce ended at the start of March. Though Hamas wants to transition to a second phase requiring Israeli withdrawal and a prisoner exchange, Israel insists on only a short extension of the truce and a renewed military campaign.
Polish diplomats on Wednesday expressed regret over the renewed hostilities in the Gaza Strip and called for a full ceasefire, while mass protests in Israel condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to resume attacks.
The recent armed flare-up in the conflict began when Hamas militants carried out an incursion into southern Israel in October 2023, killing over 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, per Israeli figures.
In the ensuing war, at least 49,000 Palestinians have died, according to Gaza’s health authorities, with the enclave sustaining massive destruction.
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Source: Reuters, PAP, RMF24