CAIRO—On Tuesday, Israeli tanks reentered areas of the northern Gaza Strip that they had abandoned weeks earlier. Meanwhile, airstrikes on Rafah, the last known shelter for Palestinians in the southern portion of the enclave, resulted in many fatalities and injuries, according to medical personnel and locals.
In the northern Gazan districts of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, locals noticed a disruption in the internet service. Residents of Beit Hanoun and media sources affiliated with the terrorist organization Hamas reported that tanks had moved into the area and encircled certain schools where displaced families were seeking safety.
“Occupation soldiers ordered all families inside the schools and the nearby houses where the tanks had advanced to evacuate. The soldiers detained many men,” one resident of northern Gaza told Reuters via a chat app.
One of the first areas targeted by Israel's ground attack in Gaza in October was Beit Hanoun, which is home to 60,000 people. Much of Beit Hanoun, formerly referred to as "the basket of fruit" due to its orchards, was reduced to mounds of debris and became a ghost town as a result of heavy bombing.
Due to the latest raid, several families who had returned to Beit Hanoun and Jabalia following the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers started to leave again on Tuesday, according to some locals.
According to Palestinian health sources, an Israeli strike near Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are taking refuge and preparing for an anticipated Israeli ground assault into the city, which borders Egypt, resulted in four deaths and several injuries.
According to Palestinian health sources, an Israeli attack on a residence in Rafah just before midnight resulted in the deaths of seven people—including children—and the injuries of numerous more. Israeli reaction was not forthcoming.
In the central Gaza Strip's Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 11 Palestinians, including children, were killed by an Israeli bombardment, according to Hamas media and Palestinian health officials. A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately answered by the Israeli military.
“My brothers were sitting by the door, my brother was injured, and his cousin too, and I lost my son, I do not have a house, nor a husband, nor anything anymore,” said Wafaa Issa al-Nouri, whose son Mohammad and husband were killed in the strike.
“He was playing by the door, we didn’t do anything, I swear we didn’t do anything,” she said.
Seven police officers were killed after an Israeli airstrike struck a police car in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood, according to the interior ministry, which is governed by Hamas.
The United States-backed negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, spearheaded by Qatar and Egypt, have not produced any progress after six months of conflict as Israel and Hamas continue to cling to their incompatible demands.
The Israeli military declared that three terrorists who attempted to assault them had been killed and that its soldiers were still in operation in the central Gaza Strip.
“Furthermore, over the past day, IDF fighter jets and aircraft destroyed a missile launcher along with dozens of terrorist infrastructure, terror tunnels, and military compounds where armed Hamas terrorists were located,” it added.
Residents of the central Gaza Strip refugee camp Al-Nusseirat said that on Tuesday, four multi-story apartment buildings were attacked and destroyed by Israeli jets.
The United Nations claims that Israel continues to impose "illegal" limitations on humanitarian aid to Gaza. Despite claims from Israel and others that obstacles have decreased, the human rights office stated on Tuesday. The quantity of aid now reaching Gaza is under question; Israel and Washington claim that aid shipments have increased recently, but the U.N. Agencies claim that it remains much below the absolute minimum.
According to the UN, Israel is facing pressure from other countries to permit additional aid to enter Gaza, particularly in the northern regions where starvation is predicted by May.
The Israeli military said late on Monday that it had let 126 vehicles enter northern Gaza from the southern area.
Additionally, it said that it was collaborating with the World Food Program (WFP) to help build two new bakeries in northern Gaza, after the inauguration of the first on Monday with assistance from the WFP.
Since October 7, Israeli fire has killed over 33,000 Palestinians, including 46 in the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Following an attack on October 7 by terrorists affiliated with the Hamas organization, which has been in control of the region, Israel began its onslaught in Gaza, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 captives, according to Israeli estimates.
