The Israeli military says ground troops backed by airstrikes have launched an operation in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp. Local hospital officials say a strike in the camp killed 11 Palestinians, including three children and a woman. The extent of the Israeli incursion into the urban refugee camp Tuesday was not immediately known. The military statement said it was conducting “a precision operation” targeting Hamas positions. The Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives across the Gaza Strip come as international mediators wait for Israel and Hamas to respond to a new cease-fire and hostage release proposal, according to Qatar, which has played a key role in negotiations alongside Egypt and the United States. A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the group will not accept a deal with Israel that does not clearly lay out a permanent cease-fire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Announcing the proposal last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said the three-phase plan was Israeli, however Israeli leaders have since appeared to distance themselves from the proposal and vowed to keep fighting Hamas until the group is destroyed. Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel’s expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians who are facing widespread hunger.
Here’s the latest:
Quick Read
- The Israeli military said Tuesday that ground troops backed by airstrikes have launched an operation in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp.
- Local hospital officials say a strike on a home in the camp killed 11 Palestinians, including three children and one woman.
- A strike on another house in the neighboring Maghazi refugee camp killed two men, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken.
- The extent of the Israeli incursion into Bureij camp was not immediately clear as of Tuesday evening.
- The military said in a statement that it was conducting “a precision operation” in the camp targeting Hamas positions.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israeli ground forces launch new incursion into a central Gaza refugee camp
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —
The Israeli military said Tuesday that ground troops backed by airstrikes have launched an operation in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp.
Local hospital officials say a strike on a home in the camp killed 11 Palestinians, including three children and one woman. A strike on another house in the neighboring Maghazi refugee camp killed two men, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken.
The extent of the Israeli incursion into Bureij camp was not immediately clear as of Tuesday evening. The military said in a statement that it was conducting “a precision operation” in the camp targeting Hamas positions.
Israeli forces have been battling militants in parts of Gaza that the army said it wrested control of months ago — potential signs of a simmering insurgency.
The military waged an offensive earlier this year for several weeks in Bureij and several other nearby refugee camps in central Gaza.
Troops pulled out of the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza last Friday after weeks of fighting caused widespread destruction. First responders have recovered the bodies of 360 people, mostly women and children, killed during the battles.
Israel has also been expanding its nearly month-old ground offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled Rafah, mostly into tent camps that have arisen across central and southern Gaza.
Refugee camps in Gaza originally housed Palestinians who were driven from their homes in what is now Israel in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s founding. Over the decades since, they have been built up into crowded urban districts.
Currently:
— The U.S. urges U.N. Security Council to support a cease-fire plan in Gaza announced by President Biden.
— Proposed Gaza cease-fire puts Netanyahu at a crossroads that could shape his legacy.
— Iran’s acting top diplomat dismisses U.S.-proposed Gaza cease-fire deal in visit to Lebanon.
— Palestinian officials apply to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the top U.N. court.
— Israeli airstrikes near Syria’s Aleppo kill several, including an Iranian adviser, reports say.
— Israel declares four more hostages are dead in Gaza.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
