INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Israeli military strikes killed at least 80 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in an
intensification of the bombardment as U.S
President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, Reuters reported.
Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, were killed in
a barrage of Israeli airstrikes on houses in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.
Later on Wednesday, the Israeli military issued new
evacuation orders to people in several districts in Gaza City, forcing thousands of Palestinians to leave their shelters.
The areas
threatened by the evacuation warnings included several schools and the largest Shifa Hospital, according to a map published by the Israeli
army.
Witnesses and medics said shortly after the evacuation orders Israeli planes carried several airstrikes against targets within Gaza
City.
“Some victims are still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams can’t reach (them),” the health
ministry statement said.
Israel’s military had no immediate comment
It said it was trying to verify the reports.
Reuters television footage showed residents returning to the ruins of their homes
Some sifted through the remains of walls and furniture, looking for documents and belongings.
“They fired two rockets, they told us the
house of Moqbel (had been hit),” said Hadi Moqbel, who lost relatives in the attack in Jabalia
“We came running, we saw body parts on the ground, children killed, the woman killed and a baby killed – his head was exploded like a
He was two months old.”
Israeli press reports on Wednesday cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammad
Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a strike on Tuesday on what the Israeli military described as a command and control
bunker under the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, read the report.
There was no confirmation by the Israeli
On Wednesday, witnesses and medics said an Israeli airstrike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European
Hospital, wounding several people.
Late on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group allied with Hamas, fired rockets from
Shortly before Israel hit back, its military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit
Lahiya.
Palestinians hope Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will provide pressure for a reduction of
Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage it had been holding.
Trump said in Riyadh on Tuesday that
more hostages would follow Alexander and that the people of Gaza deserved a better future
He is not visiting Israel during his Middle East trip.
Ceasefire efforts have faltered
Hamas talked to the United States and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to arrange Alexander’s release, and Israel has sent a team to Doha to
begin a new round of talks.
On Tuesday, Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler met hostage families in Tel Aviv and said
they saw a better chance of an agreement for the hostages’ release following the deal over Alexander, read the report.
Hamas said on
Wednesday the continued attacks indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to “escalate the aggression and massacres
against civilians to undermine those (ceasefire) efforts”
Israel has blamed Hamas for the continuing war.
The U.S
has presented a plan to reopen humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza using private contractors
Israel, which imposed a total blockade of supplies going into Gaza from March 2, has endorsed the plan but it has been rejected by the
United Nations and international aid agencies.
Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities
on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s
military campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials
It has left Gaza on the brink of famine, aid groups and international agencies say.
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people, as Trump visits Gulf first appeared on TINS News | Afghanistan News.
