Gaza war
Hamas: 107 Palestinians killed within 24 hours
Image of devastation: towers, hotel and a mosque in ruins. photo
© Omar Ishaq/dpa
In just one day, Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip have claimed over 100 lives, while the total number of casualties since the start of the war rises to more than 27,500 dead.
During attacks by the Israeli army According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 107 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.
More than 140 others were injured during the period, the authority said. This means that the number of people killed in the coastal strip since the war began on October 7th has risen to at least 27,585. Almost 67,000 others were injured. The numbers could not initially be independently verified.
Particularly fierce fighting has been raging for weeks in the area of the city of Chan Yunis in the south of the coastal strip. Israel suspects the leadership of the Islamist Hamas in an underground tunnel network. It is also likely that hostages are being held there by Hamas.
Israel wants to advance further into Rafah
Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant announced on Monday evening that the army would advance further into the area of the city of Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt. The project is considered extremely sensitive. Rafah, where around 200,000 people lived before the war, is currently home to more than a million Palestinians who fled the fighting there from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
In addition, Egypt, with which Israel has signed a peace treaty, is opposed to an Israeli offensive in the border area. Cairo fears that military operations in the refugee-crowded border city could lead to a rush of desperate Palestinians to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. This would be completely unacceptable for Egypt.