The Wafa news agency has confirmed that the Israeli military has killed three members of Gaza’s civil defence and injured others after bombing the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The Israeli military “directly targeted” the victims while they were “at their workplace”, according to Wafa.Earlier, we reported that Gaza’s civil defence agency said its rescuers were hit by fire from an Israeli warplane while carrying out “their humanitarian work”. The agency also issued a statement on Thursday warning that it is running out of fuel and its rescue missions “may stop at any moment”.
Israel steps up attacks on residential areas of central, northern Gaza
The Israeli military launched an operation east of Gaza City on Thursday, ordering people to leave the Shujayea neighbourhood. On Wednesday, Israeli forces also killed at least 32 Palestinians as they targeted the Jabalia refugee camp, leaving families fleeing as the bombardment intensified.
Israeli forces return to Shujayea area for third time: Monitors
Residents of the Shujayea neighbourhood in Gaza City have described the Israeli ground assault on their area as “a surprise attack”, with soldiers and tanks entering from several directions on Thursday and ordering civilians to evacuate immediately, war monitors report.
The operation is the third by Israeli forces since October to “clear” the neighbourhood of Palestinian fighters, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) note, as Hamas continues to “exploit” the weakness of Israel’s “raid-based model” of operations in Gaza.
Hamas has preserved its forces and engaged in “reconstitution efforts” despite the raids, the ISW/CTP say in their latest report.
The US-based defence think tanks also said that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters carried out several attacks with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and antitank rocket-propelled grenades against Israeli forces in Shujayea on Thursday.
Palestinian armed groups also fired mortars and rockets at Israeli troops deployed along the Netzarim Corridor, located south of Gaza City, and four rocket attacks were launched from Gaza towards Israeli territory on Thursday.
At least 11 killed, 40 injured in Israeli bombing on al-Mawasi
Israeli forces’ fire on al-Mawasi has killed at least 11 Palestinians and wounded more than 40 people, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
Al-Mawasi shelters displaced people near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
Israeli forces prevented civil defence from responding to 23 emergency calls last night
Mohammed al-Moghayyar, director of the civil defence’s supply department in Gaza, says Israeli forces continue to deliberately target their teams across the Strip to prevent them from providing humanitarian assistance.“We are also denied access to many of the ravaged areas simply for being cordoned by the Israeli tanks as well as opening fire on our teams,” he told Al Jazeera.Last night, they received 23 emergency calls from the al-Shakoush neighbourhood but could not help anyone as Israeli forces denied them access.Due to a lack of fuel, the civil defence has lost more than 80 percent of its capabilities, al-Moghayyar added.On Thursday four of their vehicles were completely destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of Nuseirat refugee camp. All the ambulance teams and light vehicles the crew has are out of operation, he said.
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