Israeli raid on Bureij refugee camp shows Hamas remains ‘combat effective’
The Israeli Air Force carried out several air strikes on the Bureij refugee camp on Tuesday, including hitting a school compound, ahead of “follow-on ground operations” by Israeli troops, war monitors report.
The start of the incursion yesterday was the second ground attack on the refugee camp since December, when Israeli forces then sought to clear a Hamas battalion based in the Bureij area, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) report.
Israel’s return to the Bureij camp “reflects that Palestinian militias remain combat effective there”, the US-based defence think tanks said in their latest battlefield assessment.
“Hamas retains a presence around Bureij in part because its fighters probably move into areas that Israeli forces are not actively clearing to preserve Hamas combat strength and facilitate later reconstitution efforts,” the ISW/CTP said.
Rockets continued to be fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement behind the latest attack, the monitors said.
3/ Hamas remains confident that it will survive Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and can therefore maintain its maximalist demands without granting major concessions.
Full update: https://t.co/g17iDEVCL1 pic.twitter.com/pFNM0RdXCl
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) June 5, 2024
‘Shocking’ scene in Al-Aqsa Hospital as casualties continue to pour in
It’s a tragic morning in the middle area [of Gaza] in light of the Israeli military’s military incursion of Bureij camp. The camp, one of the most densely populated in the middle area, is only a few kilometres from Deir el-Balah.
Earlier, we went to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where we were shocked by the casualties resulting from Israel’s overnight and early morning bombardment. At least 66 Palestinians have been killed in the middle area in the last 24 hours. The bombardment has not stopped until now.
Medical sources in Deir el-Balah say that the morgues are completely full and they are struggling to cope with the surge of casualties. The hospital is working at three times its capacity.
Rescuers find six more killed, eight wounded near Deir el-Balah
Injured Palestinians are continuing to be rescued from neighbourhoods in central Gaza that have been under fierce attack.
In one of its latest missions, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) recovered the bodies of six Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardment and an additional eight wounded in the Ja’frawi neighbourhood, east of Deir el-Balah.
A video posted by the group shows its members rushing the victims to a hospital at dawn.
🚨Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams retrieved six martyrs and more than eight injured people from the Al-Ja'frawi area east of Deir al-Balah, central #Gaza after the Israeli occupation targeted several houses with artillery shells.
📷Filmed by: PRCS volunteer, Mohammed… pic.twitter.com/xYRBOkFicv
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 5, 2024
Intense Israeli shelling hits Gaza City
An Al Jazeera correspondent has reported artillery shelling on the Korba area in the Shujayea neighbourhood, in the east of Gaza City in the Strip’s north.
‘Why should civilians pay the price?’
Aya, a 30-year-old displaced woman sheltering in Deir el-Balah, says she feels Palestinian civilians are being used as pawns in the war as ceasefire talks drag on.
“The sounds of bombardment didn’t stop all night,” Aya told the Reuters news agency. “Every time they speak about new truce talks, the occupation uses one town or refugee camp as a pressuring card,” she said.
Four people killed in Gaza City
An Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Remal neighbourhood has killed at least four people, our colleagues on the ground report. It comes after a series of earlier Israeli strikes in nearby neighbourhoods, including Tal al-Hawa, Sheikh Ijlin and Zeitoun, according to the Wafa news agency. In Zeitoun, Israeli shelling hit a family’s home, injuring seven civilians, Wafa reported.
Gaza death toll rises: Health Ministry
At least 36,586 people have been killed and 83,074 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, its Health Ministry says.
The ministry added that 36 people were killed and 115 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
Israeli air strike kills four in central Gaza: Report
An Israeli attack has killed at least four civilians in central Gaza, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports. Local sources told Wafa the raid targeted a gathering of people in the Remal neighbourhood.
The Israeli army announced in the early hours of this morning that it had launched a renewed military offensive on the central Gaza Strip, specifically on Bureij refuge camp.
