CAIRO: Israeli forces battled Hamas-led fighters in several areas across Gaza on Tuesday (Jul 16), while Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people were killed in Israeli bombardments in southern and central areas of the enclave.
In Rafah, a southern border city where Israeli forces have been operating since May, five Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a house, while in nearby Khan Younis, a man, his wife and two children were killed, they said.
In central Gaza in Nuseirat, one of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps, at least four Palestinians were killed in separate shelling and aerial strikes, medics said. Israeli tanks bombed the southern sector of Gaza City earlier on Tuesday, residents said.
The Israeli military said troops continued “intelligence-based” activities in Rafah, killing many Palestinian gunmen over the past 24 hours. It said air strikes had targeted militants, tunnels, and other Hamas military infrastructure.
It added that the Israeli air force had struck around 40 targets across the enclave, including sniping and observation posts, military structures, and buildings rigged with explosives.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements their fighters attacked Israeli forces in several locations with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire.
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