Dozens dead in Gaza as Israeli army launches new invasion

At least 26 people were killed and 93 others injured when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Displaced people living in target buildings

The Gaza government's Hamas-run media office said there were displaced people living in the buildings attacked.

Another 20 people killed

Palestinian health authorities said at least 20 more people have been killed in northern Gaza since Saturday night.

This came after the army sent tanks into the areas there for the first time in months and asked residents to leave.

Strikes around the first anniversary of the war

The attacks came as the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas nears its first anniversary and Israel has expanded its actions in Lebanon.

According to Israeli information, Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the subsequent Israeli military attack on Gaza killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians.

Precise attacks on Hamas terrorists

The Israeli military said it carried out “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists.”

These terrorists operated from command and control centers at the Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque in central Gaza.

Rejection of the allegations

Hamas denies allegations that it uses civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes.

“The mosque has been here for 20 years and the neighborhood has displaced people,” said Imam Ahmed Fleet as he picked up Korans from the rubble.

It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide charges at the World Court, which Israel denies.

The ICRC calls for the protection of all civilians

The International Committee of the Red Cross called on all parties to ensure the protection of all civilians.

It continued: “Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced across the region.”

The Gaza government's Hamas-run media office said Israel had attacked 27 homes, schools and refugee shelters across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where Israeli forces have been operating since May.

Tanks advance into the northern Gaza Strip

The army issued new evacuation orders in parts on Saturday
Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, forcing hundreds of families to leave their homes.

The military said its forces wanted to take action against it
Hamas militants who carried out attacks from the territory.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks advanced into the northern Gaza areas
from Beit Lahiya and Jabalia overnight.

Twenty people killed

Medics said planes hit several homes, killing at least 20 people.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said troops operating in Jabalia had killed dozens of Palestinians
Militants and located weapons and explosive devices.

“The troops are continuing their operational activities against it
Terrorist infrastructure and terrorists in the region,” said the
statement said.

Earlier in the day it said its forces had surrounded the area
Jabalia area, the focus of its operations.

An air strike killed 10 people in a house
five more in another strike against a second home.

One of the worst nights in many months

Local residents described it as one of the worst nights in many months.

“The war is back,” said Raed, 52, from Jabalia, before
and his family traveled to Gaza City on Sunday.

“Dozens of explosions caused by air strikes and tank fire
shook the ground and the buildings, it felt like the early days of
the war,” he told Reuters.

The armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and smaller ones
Factions said militants were involved in gunfights with Israelis
Forces in Jabalia, the largest of the eight historic Gaza Strips
Refugee camp.

The Israeli military said its forces were deployed in Jabalia to combat Hamas militants, dismantle military infrastructure and prevent Hamas from regrouping.

Instructions for residents

It ordered residents to go to a designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinians and U.N. officials say there is no room in the enclave
is safe, including in the humanitarian zones.

Journalist killed

Hassan Hamad, a local journalist, was among those killed in northern Gaza on Sunday.

The Gaza government's media office said 175 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 7 last year.

(With inputs from Reuters)