The Palestinian Civil Defense emergency rescue organization reported multiple deaths and injuries as Israeli military said its strike meant to target Hamas military infrastructure
Photo: Screenshot/ AFP
Not less than two Israeli airstrikes struck Gaza City on Saturday with emergency rescue workers rushing to the scene amid destruction and unconfirmed reports of high casualties.
Many details remained unclear, but the Israeli military said its fighter jets had targeted “Hamas military infrastructure” at two sites in the area of Gaza City, without elaborating. Gazan rescue workers and residents said there were many killed and wounded at the scene, and that at least one of the strikes was big enough to kick up huge clouds of dust.
According to the reports, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense emergency rescue organization said that more than 30 people had been killed and 50 wounded in separate strikes in at least three Gaza City residential neighbourhoods — Tuffah, Shujaiyya and Shati — and that other victims were believed to still be trapped under rubble.
The toll could not be independently verified, and Gazan authorities do not distinguish between civilians and combatants when reporting casualty figures.
It was unclear what or whom the Israeli airstrikes had targeted. Since the beginning of the war, Israel has sought to assassinate senior members of Hamas in Gaza, including militant commanders and Hamas’s chief in the enclave, Yahya Sinwar. While Israeli forces have had some success picking off midlevel figures, Mr. Sinwar and most of the leadership have successfully eluded them.
Hamas has taken advantage of the urban areas in Gaza to provide its fighters and weapons infrastructure with an extra layer of protection, running tunnels under neighbourhoods, launching rockets near civilian homes and holding hostages in city centres. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, has said that the group tries to keep Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way.
All three attacks took place around noon and targeted buildings in residential areas, said Mr Basal, who said he visited the scenes. Rescuers were trying to reach people under the rubble, he said, “but our resources are limited.”
Mohammad Haddad, 25, who lives in Shati, heard “three or four loud explosions” before a cloud of grey dust descended upon the neighbourhood. When the dust settled, Mr. Haddad said, he ventured out toward the site of the strikes.
The bombardment had hit six or seven houses in the same residential block, demolishing them, Mr Haddad said. He said he saw roughly a dozen people killed and many others wounded.
“On the way, I saw people scattered on the ground,” some of them wounded and others killed, he said in a phone call. “There were so many, I couldn’t count.”
Human rights groups argue that Israel’s criteria for signing off on strikes during its campaign have been too permissive when it comes to civilian casualties. One airstrike in late October that targeted a Hamas militant commander in northern Gaza left dozens dead, including women and children.
In recent days, the Israeli military offensive has mostly focused on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israeli forces have operated for the past month and a half. Many of the million Gazans who had been sheltering there fled to the nearby area of Al-Mawasi, a coastal area in the southern Gaza Strip, on orders from the Israeli military, which had designated the area as a “safer zone.”
On Friday, as many as 25 people were killed and 50 wounded amid tents that were housing displaced people in Al-Mawasi, according to aid agencies and Gazan health officials. The Israeli military said its initial inquiry showed “no indication” of a strike within the “safer zone.” It did not say whether it had struck elsewhere in the area.
Since the beginning of the war, Israeli military officials have said they will neighbourhood Palestinian militants wherever they operate, without ruling out striking in the areas they designate as safer.
以色列空襲加薩城,造成人員傷亡
週六,以色列對加薩城發動了至少兩次空襲,緊急救援人員趕赴現場,現場遭到破壞,未經證實的傷亡慘重。
許多細節尚不清楚,但以色列軍方表示,其戰鬥機瞄準了加薩城地區兩個地點的“哈馬斯軍事基礎設施”,但沒有詳細說明。 加薩救援人員和居民表示,現場有多人死傷,至少其中一次攻擊規模足以揚起巨大的塵埃。
巴勒斯坦民防緊急救援組織發言人馬哈茂德·巴薩爾(Mahmoud Basal) 表示,在加薩城至少三個居民區(Tuffah、Shujaiyya 和Shati)的襲擊中,已有30 多人死亡、50 人受傷,據信還有其他受害者。
傷亡人數無法獨立核實,加薩當局在報告傷亡數字時也不區分平民和戰鬥人員。
目前尚不清楚以色列空襲的目標是什麼或誰。 自戰爭開始以來,以色列一直試圖暗殺加薩哈馬斯高級成員,包括武裝指揮官和哈馬斯飛地首領葉海亞·辛瓦爾。 雖然以色列軍隊在抓捕中層人物方面取得了一些成功,但辛瓦爾和大多數領導層卻成功地避開了他們。
哈馬斯利用加薩市區為其戰士和武器基礎設施提供額外的保護,在社區下鋪設隧道,在平民住宅附近發射火箭,並在市中心劫持人質。 哈馬斯高級官員加齊·哈馬德表示,該組織試圖讓巴勒斯坦平民免受傷害。
巴薩爾說,這三起攻擊都發生在中午前後,目標是住宅區的建築物。 他說,救援人員正試圖救助廢墟下的人們,“但我們的資源有限。”
25 歲的穆罕默德·哈達德 (Mohammad Haddad) 住在沙蒂 (Shati),他聽到“三四聲爆炸聲”,然後一團灰色塵埃落在附近地區。 哈達德說,當塵埃落定後,他冒險前往罷工地點。
哈達德說,同一住宅區的六、七棟房屋遭到轟炸,被摧毀。 他說他看到大約有十幾人被殺,還有許多人受傷。
他在電話中說,“在路上,我看到人們散落在地上”,其中一些人受傷,其他人死亡。 “太多了,我數不過來。”
人權組織認為,以色列在競選期間批准發動攻擊的標準在涉及平民傷亡方面過於寬鬆。 十月下旬,針對加薩北部一名哈馬斯武裝指揮官的一次空襲造成數十人死亡,其中包括婦女和兒童。
最近幾天,以色列的軍事攻勢主要集中在加薩南部城市拉法,以色列軍隊過去一個半月以來一直在那裡行動。 在以色列軍方的命令下,躲藏在那裡的數百萬加薩人中的許多人逃到了加薩地帶南部沿海地區馬瓦西附近的地區,以色列軍方已將該地區指定為「較安全區」。
據援助機構和加薩衛生官員稱,週五,在 Al-Mawasi 安置流離失所者的帳篷中,多達 25 人死亡、50 人受傷。 以色列軍方表示,初步調查顯示「沒有跡象表明」在「安全區」內發生了襲擊。 它沒有透露是否襲擊了該地區的其他地方。
自戰爭開始以來,以色列軍方官員就表示,他們將尋求在巴勒斯坦武裝分子活動的任何地方進行打擊,但不排除在他們指定的安全地區發動攻擊。
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