Israeli ships, warplanes pound sites in Gaza’s north, centre and south overnight
We are receiving reports that Israeli naval ships are attacking Gaza’s central coast in the areas of az-Zawayda, Deir el-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp, while artillery and fighter jets pounded eastern areas of Khan Younis city in the south and Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory.
Wafa reports that gunboats opened fire at dawn, attacking sites on the beaches in the three central Gaza areas.
Israeli jets also attacked targets in Gaza City and southern Khan Younis, according to Wafa and Al Jazeera Arabic, resulting in deaths, injuries and destruction of civilian homes.
Israeli artillery also fired on the Zeitoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City, according to the reports.
Video captures moment of Israeli bombing in north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have obtained and verified video footage that shows the moment of an Israeli attack on a residential building in Beit Lahiya.
The sound of the explosion is followed by shouts as people take cover and smoke billows over the site of the strike in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The video also captures the immense destruction of the residential building.
‘Aura of fear’: Air attacks on Rafah seen as prelude to Israeli ground attack
UNRWA reports a “palpable aura of fear” among displaced Palestinians packed into the Rafah area of southern Gaza amid Israeli air attacks and promises by Israeli officials that an invasion is imminent.
“Airstrikes on Rafah have heightened concerns of an escalation in this southernmost area of Gaza, which is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in the latest assessment of conditions in the war-torn territory.
A senior UNRWA official stressed the importance of allowing civilians safe passage to relocate from Rafah before the ground invasion by Israeli forces begins.
An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah – an area measuring some 64sq km (25sq miles) – in the hope of finding safety from Israeli attacks that have pulverised the north, centre and southern areas of Gaza over the past six months.
Foreign governments, including Israel’s staunchest ally the US, and international aid agencies, are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israeli forces push ahead with their plan to launch a ground invasion of the Rafah area.
Palestinian snipers, rockets, mortars target Israeli forces in Beit Hanoon battles
Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoon city on Monday came under sniper fire as well as mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks by Palestinian armed groups, war monitors report.
Fighters with Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the self-claimed military wing of Fatah, reported several attacks carried out against Israeli units in Beit Hanoon and east of the city, which is located in the northeastern corner of the Gaza Strip.
According to the US-based military think tanks Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), Israeli forces have carried out “multiple raids targeting Palestinian militias in Beit Hanoun in recent weeks”.
Yet, the Palestinian resistance continues in Beit Hanoon.
“These attacks and the [Israeli military’s] raids indicate that Palestinian militia cells remain in Beit Hanoun,” the ISW and CTP said in their latest Gaza situation report, noting the situation in the city remains as “previously assessed”.
