GAZA: Israeli forces struck southern Gaza’s main city on Monday after a rocket barrage claimed by Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, as shelling raged on across the besieged Palestinian territory.
The escalation in violence comes after Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing approximately 20 projectiles from the Khan Younis area towards Israeli communities near the Gaza border. The group cited retaliation against Israeli actions targeting Palestinians as justification for the attack.
The Israeli military reported intercepting most of the rockets and responded with artillery strikes aimed at the sources of fire.
Meanwhile, witnesses and Gaza’s civil defence agency reported Israeli airstrikes in southern Rafah and the Nuseirat refugee camp. Intense Israeli bombardments and tank fire were also reported in Gaza City’s Shujaiya district, where Israeli forces engaged in ground operations destroying civilian infrastructure.
Israeli forces were also operating in Rafah and in central Gaza, a statement added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently declared that the “intense phase” of the war was winding down, on Sunday said troops were “operating in Rafah, Shujaiya, everywhere in the Gaza Strip”.
The conflict has further strained humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where critical infrastructure, including hospitals, has been heavily affected by successive Israeli raids. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, recounted “severe torture” endured during his detention by Israeli authorities since November.
Speaking after his release, Abu Salmiya described detainees being subjected to physical and psychological abuse, highlighting deaths among Palestinian inmates due to Israeli mistreatment. “Prisoners are subjected to all kinds of torture,” he told reporters in Khan Younis. “Detainees were subjected to physical and psychological humiliation” and “several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine”, he said.
Despite international calls for de-escalation and humanitarian aid, the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, exacerbating health risks and prompting concerns about the well-being of civilians, particularly children.
Since October 7 last year, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 37,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to data from the health ministry in Gaza.
Months of on-and-off talks towards a truce and hostage release deal have made little progress, with Hamas saying Saturday there was “nothing new” in a revised plan US mediators presented late last month.
Israel has released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, along with dozens of other detainees returned on Monday to Gaza for treatment, according to a hospital source in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.
Successive Israeli raids have reduced parts of Al-Shifa, the territory’s largest medical complex, to rubble.
The United Nations and relief agencies have voiced alarm over the dire humanitarian crisis and the threat of starvation the Israeli siege have brought for Gaza’s 2.4 million people.
Israel’s ground operation in Rafah since early May has led to the closure of a key aid crossing, and a US-built temporary pier meant to facilitate humanitarian shipments was again removed from the Gaza coast over the weekend because of high seas.
Meanwhile, tensions have also escalated on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces have exchanged fire with Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. The broader implications of these conflicts on regional stability remain a concern for international observers and diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving peace.
