162 Palestinians killed, 296 hurt in 24 hours
The Israeli military yesterday launched air, land and sea attacks on more than 100 targets across the Gaza Strip, forcing displaced families to flee for safety riding donkey carts loaded with belongings and children.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said that 162 people were killed and 296 injured in a 24-hour period. The total recorded Palestinian death toll had reached 22,600 by yesterday - almost 1 percent of its 2.3 million population, it said.
Heavy bombardments were reported near Deir el-Balah, including at the Nuseirat, al-Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps as Israeli troops forced residents to evacuate south. Israeli boats were also striking coastal areas in central Gaza.
The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said that about 500 people, including women and children, were interrogated by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarem.
"The occupation transferred about 150 Palestinians to one of its military barracks and arrested 20 others," a statement by the two groups said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said a 17-year-old boy was killed by Israeli forces and four others injured in Beit Rima in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday evening outlined a new stage of Israel's war in Gaza: a more targeted approach in the north and further pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south while Israel seeks to free remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Under international pressure to shift to less intense combat operations and in the face of economic challenges, Israel has been drawing down its forces in Gaza to allow thousands of reservists to return to their jobs.
Gallant said in a statement that operations in the north would include raids, demolishing tunnels, air and ground strikes, and special forces operations.
After the offensive, Hamas would no longer control Gaza, Gallant said, adding that the enclave would be run by Palestinian bodies so long as there was no threat to Israel, reports Reuters.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Europe's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were due in the Middle East yesterday to try to halt the spillover of the conflict in Gaza to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.
- Israeli minister lays out post-war Gaza plan
- Gaza death toll rises to 22,600
- Israeli boats strike coastal areas in central Gaza
The top American diplomat will visit both Israel and the West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority, and five Arab countries -- Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.
In a reported strike in Al-Mawasi on the western side of Khan Younis, Israeli shells landed near tents erected in the area by displaced people, health ministry officials said.
Footage on Palestinian media showed several bodies wrapped in blankets inside a hospital morgue in Khan Younis.
"Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Wherever you go, there are strikes. In the country, next to the camps, in Al-Mawasi. There is no safe space," said Bahaa Abu Hatab, the brother of one of the dead.
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