Casualties as Israeli forces attack Jabalia, Deir el-Balah, Rafah and Khan Younis
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that several people were killed and wounded after Israeli forces bombed a residential building in the Tall az-Zaatar area of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
AJA also reported that Israeli forces blew up buildings in the southern city of Rafah and the Hamad neighbourhood in nearby Khan Younis.
It also said Israeli forces were shelling eastern parts of central Deir el-Balah.
Farmers killed by Israeli tanks near Rafah
Since the early hours of this morning, we have heard loud explosions in central Gaza, especially Deir el-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are seeking refuge.
Right now, the army is operating just a few kilometres from where we are. Explosions have been hitting houses and civil infrastructure in the eastern part of the city. Operations are also going on in Khan Younis city and show no sign of ending.
In Rafah, a civil defence crew recovered the bodies of four Palestinians. They were farmers working near al-Mawasi who were killed by Israeli tanks, which opened fire on them without warning.
The casualties come after our earlier reports of Israeli attacks on buildings in Rafah and Khan Younis’s nearby Hamad neighbourhood.
More Palestinians killed, wounded in Israeli attacks overnight
The Wafa news agency is reporting that at least one person was killed after Israeli jets bombed the home of the al-Khatib family in the Tall az-Zaatar area in the Jabalia refugee camp.
It said dozens more were wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on shelters in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza and bombed the house of the al-Salhi family in Block C of the central Nuseirat refugee camp.
Wafa also reported Israeli attacks in the following locations:
- Air raid on Satar area in southern Khan Younis.
- Artillery and missile attacks on the town of al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis.
- Shelling and gun attacks in northern Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Sabra and Tal al-Hawa neighbourhoods.
- Air attack on the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
- Air attack near the al-Qastal Towers, east of the central city of Deir el-Balah.
A cousin of a Palestinian child killed in an Israeli attack holds their body in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 20
New evacuation orders for Deir el-Balah
Israel’s military has ordered residents of several neighbourhoods in Deir el-Balah to flee.
In a post on X, the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted a map with designated blocks in the southern part of the city that are now considered a “dangerous combat zone”.
He said the military would soon “act forcefully” against fighters there, and urged residents to head westwards immediately.
Fifty killed, 124 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza in last 24 hours
The latest casualties bring the total toll of the war to 40,223 killed and 92,981 injured, said the enclave’s Health Ministry. There are more unrecorded victims still trapped in areas inaccessible to ambulance crews and civil defence teams, the ministry added.
One killed in southern Deir el-Balah
Israeli artillery strikes have killed one person and injured others in the Abu ‘Arif area, southeast of Deir el-Balah, report our colleagues on the ground.
The casualties come shortly after Israel’s military promptly ordered several neighbourhoods of southern Deir el-Balah to evacuate, claiming it would launch “forceful” operations there.
Civilians come under heavy Israeli gunfire in Khan Younis
Video posted on Instagram, and verified by Al Jazeera, shows the moment a gathering of civilians came under attack by what they described as an Israeli army drone, a quadcopter.
The harrowing scenes show people fleeing by car, bicycle and donkey cart as the loud sounds of gunfire can be heard in the background. Our correspondents on the ground have been reporting heavy clashes in southern Gaza City all day.
Gaza Media Office says another journalist killed by Israeli attacks
The office has decried in a statement the killing of Hamza Abdul Rahman Murtaja by the Israeli army today.
It said that Murtaja worked as a photographer and reported for several different media outlets, and called on “the international community and international organizations and those related to journalistic work in the world to deter the [Israeli] occupation and prosecute it in international courts” for the killing of journalists in Gaza.
The office added that Murtaja’s death brings the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 7 to 170.
