Palestinian militants fire rockets into Israel, tanks continue to advance into Gaza

Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem.

Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas – both groups are backed by Iran – said its members had launched rockets at several Israeli communities near the Gaza border in response to “Zionist crimes against our Palestinian compatriots”.

The Israeli military said the salvo of 20 missiles caused no casualties. But the attack showed that the militia still possessed the ability to launch missiles nearly nine months into the Israeli campaign, which the military said was designed to neutralize threats against the country.

Local residents in several residential areas in eastern Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said they received radio messages from Israel, asking them to leave their homes.

On the social media platform X, calling on locals and evacuees to leave these areas, Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, wrote: “For your safety, immediately evacuate to humanitarian areas.”

Some have interpreted the message as a sign that Israeli forces are returning to the area after leaving it weeks ago. The Israeli military said in a statement on Monday that the rockets were fired from the Khan Younis area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was close to achieving its goal of neutralizing the military capabilities of Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs Gaza and was behind the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. Netanyahu said smaller-scale operations would continue.

“We are gradually coming to the end of the phase of destroying the Hamas terrorist army and there will be an ongoing campaign to deal with the remaining troops.”

Violence also flared in the West Bank on Monday, with the Palestinian Health Ministry saying a woman and a boy were killed in the town of Tulkarm in an Israeli operation. A day earlier, an Israeli airstrike in the area killed a member of the Islamic Jihad group.

In some areas of Gaza, militia groups continue to launch attacks on Israeli forces in areas that the Israeli army withdrew from months ago.

Israeli tanks continued to advance deeper into the eastern suburb of Shejaia in Gaza City for the fifth consecutive day, and also advanced deeper into areas west and central Rafah, a city on Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The Israeli military said it killed several militia members in Shejaia on Monday and discovered a large cache of weapons there.

Meanwhile, Hamas said its gunmen lured Israeli forces into a booby-trapped house in eastern Rafah and detonated the booby trap, causing many casualties.

The Israeli military has announced the death of a soldier in southern Gaza, without providing further details. Israeli military radio said the soldier was killed in a booby-trapped house in Rafah – possibly the same case reported by Islamic Jihad.

Also in Rafah, the Israeli military said an airstrike killed a militia member who fired an anti-tank missile at the force.

Israel has given some indications that the Rafah campaign, designed to destroy Hamas, will soon be over. After the most intense phase of the war is over, the force will focus on smaller-scale operations to prevent Hamas from reorganizing.

The war in Gaza was sparked after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Israel's response campaign in Gaza has killed more than 38,000 people and leveled much of the enclave.

Gaza's health ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, but officials say the vast majority of those killed are civilians. Israel says 317 soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and at least a third of the Palestinians killed were militia members.

Ceasefire efforts deadlocked

Arab efforts to negotiate a US-backed ceasefire have stalled. Hamas insists that any ceasefire must lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel insists it will only accept a temporary ceasefire until it destroys Hamas.

Israeli authorities have freed 54 Palestinians detained during the fighting.

They include Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, director of Al Shifa hospital, who was arrested by Israeli forces when they stormed the hospital in November 2023.

Israel has claimed that Hamas used the hospital for military purposes. The Israeli military released security camera footage from the hospital on October 7 showing gunmen and hostages in the area, and led several journalists into tunnels discovered in the hospital area.

Hamas has denied using the hospital for military purposes. Abu Selmeyah denied the allegations on Monday and said the detainees had been mistreated in detention, including being starved and denied medicine, and said some had died.

“I was severely tortured, my little finger was broken. I was beaten on the head until I bled and more than once,” Abu Selmeyah said at a press conference at a hospital in southern Gaza.

In May 2024, Israel said it would investigate the deaths of several Palestinians detained during the fighting, as well as reports of a military-run detention camp where some detainees were released and where human rights groups have accused the camps of mistreatment of prisoners.

The Israeli military has not commented on Abu Selmeyah's statements.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/dan-quan-palestine-phong-ten-lua-vao-israel-xe-tang-tiep-tuc-tien-vao-gaza-204671075.htm