Israel battled Hamas on Saturday in pursuit of its elusive interim goal of full control of northern Gaza after the UN Security Council appealed for more aid for the Palestinian enclave but stopped short of demanding a ceasefire.
Thick smoke hung over the northern town of Jabalia - which is also home to Gaza’s largest refugee camp - and residents reported persistent aerial bombardment and shelling from Israeli tanks, which they said had moved further into the town.
The Palestinian health ministry issued a statement on Saturday saying at least 201 Palestinians have been killed and 368 others injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Since October 7, the total death toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the impoverished strip has reached 20,258 people, with 53,688 more injured, the statement added.
Hamas’ armed wing Al Qassam Brigades said it had destroyed five Israeli tanks in the area, killing and injuring their crews, after reusing two undetonated missiles launched earlier by Israel.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson said on Friday that its forces had achieved almost complete operational control of northern Gaza and were preparing to expand the ground offensive to other areas in the Strip, with a focus on the south.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Saturday they had fired decoy shots in the area of Issa in Gaza City that lured dozens of fighters from a building that served as a Hamas headquarters in the north of the enclave.
“During the joint operational activity, IDF ground and intelligence troops directed an IAF fighter jet to strike the building, eliminating the terrorists,” it said.
The army also released a video it said showed Hamas tunnels in the Issa area. Israel accuses the resistance group of placing tunnels and other military infrastructure among civilians to use them as human shields, something Hamas denies.
Nearly 20,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed during the 11-week conflict, according to the Palestinian health ministry, with thousands more bodies believed trapped under rubble. Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced.
