Israel attacks 40 targets in Gaza while Hamas claims responsibility for killing Israeli soldiers

(MENAFN-IANS) Jerusalem/Gaza, August 18 (IANS) The Israeli army said it bombed 40 targets in the central Gaza Strip, while Hamas claimed its militants killed and wounded some Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a press release on Saturday that Israeli aircraft had attacked 40 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip in the past few hours, including military buildings, weapons depots and others, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a separate statement, the Israeli army called on residents of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip to immediately evacuate due to rocket fire into Israel.

He added that the evacuation order was issued due to Hamas' continued rocket launches from these areas, stressing that the army would act promptly and forcefully.

Meanwhile, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed on Saturday that its militants had killed and wounded several Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City.

“Our militants detonated two bombs in two army jeeps near the University College in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood south of Gaza City,” a press release said.

The statement added that the militants fired machine guns at the remaining soldiers, killing or wounding some of them.

The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident.

Israeli state broadcaster Kan TV reported that 11 Israeli soldiers were injured in a security incident in Gaza, but did not provide further details.

In the past 48 hours, the Israeli military has killed 69 people and injured 136 others, bringing the total death toll to 40,074 and the number of injured to 92,537 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began in early October 2023, Gaza health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

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