Female teacher among 3 Palestinians taken in Israeli military night raids: Reports
Israeli forces have carried out raids and arrests across the occupied West Bank, including arresting a female Palestinian teacher from the Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah, and two brothers in Hebron.
Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and detonated sound bombs when they raided the home of the brothers in the Talaat at-Takrouri area of southern Hebron, Palestine’s state news agency Wafa reports.
Israeli forces also stormed the following villages, towns and cities, Wafa reports:
- Azzun and Jayyus towns, located east of Qalqilya city
- Communities in the east of Nablus city
- Qabatiya, south of Jenin
- Yabad town and the villages of Toura and Khirbet at-Tarem, located southwest of Jenin
- Dura town, south of Hebron, where local people confronted the raid by Israeli forces who fired noxious gas and stun grenades
Israeli air strikes, artillery fire hammer north, central Gaza
Early morning attacks have taken place throughout north and central Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency. They include:
- Air raids to the north of Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps, as well as on the town of az-Zawayda, in central Gaza.
- Bombardment of residential buildings in the al-Mughraqa area of central Gaza.
- Artillery shelling in Beit Lahiya and throughout northeastern Gaza.
- Heavy machine-gun fire along Gaza’s northern border.
- Air raids and artillery shelling on the neighbourhoods of Tuffah, Zeitoun and Shujayea near Gaza City.
Israeli troop movements seen as preparation for Rafah assault: Monitors
Palestinian fighters targeted Israeli forces operating in the “Netzarim corridor” with mortars and improvised explosive devices (IED) on Thursday, as two Israeli reservist units relieved the Nahal Brigade in apparent preparation for the anticipated ground invasion of Rafah.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), two US-based think tanks, said the Nahal – one of Israel’s main infantry brigades – transferred responsibility for operations in the area of the corridor, which is a 6.5km (4-mile) Israeli-built road bisecting the Gaza Strip north from south – to reserve armour and infantry brigades.
According to Israeli army radio, “the Nahal Brigade will rest to prepare for Israeli operations in Rafah,” the latest joint ISW/CTP report states.
Also on Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas claimed attacks using mortars against Israeli forces in the area of the corridor, and also detonating a “dud F16 missile” from an Israeli jet fighter “that had been recovered by Hamas forces and re-built into an IED”.
‘Constant artillery shelling’ in eastern Rafah
Right now … we’re seeing constant artillery shelling on the eastern part of the city.
That’s part of a longstanding plan by the Israeli military to expand a buffer zone, which is eating up 16 percent of the total area of the Gaza Strip, clearing more farmland and destroying remaining residential buildings in the eastern part.
More importantly, there seems to be a concentration of attacks on Gaza’s central area, mainly refugee camps, such as Nuseirat and Bureij camps, as well as on Deir el-Balah city.
They extend all the way to the northern part of Gaza, where there is almost non-stop artillery shelling and attack drones.
Deaths reported in Israeli air attack on Gaza City home
The air raid hit a home on al-Wehda street, a central thoroughfare in Gaza City, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, killing and injuring numerous Palestinians. The attack comes after our earlier reports of Israeli air raids and artillery shelling in several neighbourhoods around Gaza City, including Tuffah, Zeitoun and Shujayea.
Palestinian fisherman killed off Rafah’s coast
Israeli forces have fired at fishermen working off the coast of Rafah, killing at least one person and injuring another, according to a report from our colleagues on the ground. Israel maintains strict control of Gaza’s territorial waters, and fishers trying to earn a living in the sea are often harassed, intimidated and even shot at by Israel’s navy.
Three people killed near Gaza City: Report
An Israeli air raid has hit another home near Gaza City, this time in the Remal neighbourhood west of the city, reports the Wafa news agency.
The attack killed at least three people, including a woman and a child, according to the report.
Meanwhile, at least one person has been confirmed killed and others injured from an attack we earlier reported on a home on Gaza City’s al-Wehda street.
