Conflicts & War

Hundreds of casualties as Israel continues Gaza offensive after truce

Jerusalem, Dec 2 (EFE).- The Israeli army continued its military offensive against the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Saturday for the second consecutive day since the truce was broken, leaving more than 200 dead and 600 wounded in the Palestinian enclave in just 24 hours.

During the last 24 hours, the Israeli Defense Forces attacked more than 400 “terrorist” targets in the Gaza Strip, including artillery fire and shelling, an Israeli army spokesperson said.

One of the targets was “a terrorist cell” that was ambushing Israeli troops, as well as a mosque used by Islamic Jihad as an operational command center, and a weapons storage complex, according to the spokesperson.

In the south, the Israeli navy carried out operations targeting Hamas positions in the port of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, the army said.

The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of the towns of Jabalia and neighborhoods of Gaza City.

Israel and Hamas broke a truce – brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States – on Friday morning, marking a seven-day pause in their war that broke out on Oct. 7.

Gaza’s health ministry, controlled by Hamas, reported that more than 200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 600 wounded, most of them women and children, from Israeli attacks since the end of the humanitarian pause.

Palestinian militias have fired numerous volleys of rockets towards Israel since Friday, but no casualties have been reported.

The war began on Oct. 7 following an attack by Hamas that included the launching of thousands of rockets into Israel and the infiltration of some 3,000 militiamen who killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 240 from Israeli villages near the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israeli forces have carried out intense air, land and sea offensives on the Palestinian enclave that has left more than 15,000 dead, and some 6,000 people buried under the rubble, and most likely dead.

Moreover, nearly two million have been internally displaced and are experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis in the face of the collapse of hospitals and shortages of housing, drinking water, food, medicines and electricity. EFE

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