By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The Jewish sabbath was marred by bloodshed after a week-old truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed, with the Israeli army saying they struck over 400 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip, including a controversial mosque.
Some 50 of the 400 sites were targeted as part of an air raid on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Israeli naval forces reportedly used precision-guided missiles to strike “Hamas terror infrastructure” as well as maritime equipment, located near the Khan Yunis harbor.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces from the 401st Brigade struck down “a terror cell” and directed aerial fire targeting several terror targets in the Jabaliya area, Israeli sources said.
In a move expected to draw Palestinian condemnation, the IDF acknowledged it had destroyed destroyed a Gaza mosque.
However, it said the Islamic Jihad group had used the religious site as an “operational headquarters.”
Like Hamas, the Islamic Jihad is viewed as a terrorist organization by Israel and most of its Western allies. It calls for the military destruction of Israel and rejects a two-state solution.
MOSQUE RAID
The raid on the mosque was carried out by the IDF’s 215th Artillery Brigade, which also directed aerial strikes against a terror cell that planned to ambush its forces, Israeli media reported.
The “terror-infested mosque” was later destroyed by Israeli Air Force fighter jets, Israeli sources said.
As fighting resumed, residents were seen waking to the road with belongings heaped up in carts, searching for shelter further west.
By Friday evening, the Hamas-run heights ministry in the coastal strip said Israeli strikes had killed 184 people, wounded at least 589 others, and hit more than 20 houses.
It was unclear how many fighters were among those killed as Israel pledged to annihilate Hamas after its gunmen killed some 1,200 people, including toddlers and babies, in Israel while taking 240 others hostage on October 7.
And as fighting intensified, the sabbath was far from peaceful for Israeli communities outside Gaza, with rocket sirens sounding throughout the area.
The warring sides blamed each other for the collapse of the truce, during which Hamas militants had released hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY
The United Nations said the fighting would worsen an extreme humanitarian emergency. “Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” added Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland.
A pause that started on November 24 had been extended twice, and Israel had said it could continue as long as Hamas released 10 hostages a day.
But after seven days during which women, children, and foreign hostages were freed, mediators failed to find a formula to release more, with Israel accusing Hamas of refusing to free all the women it held.
Palestinian authorities confirmed that the breakdown occurred about female Israeli soldiers being held by Hamas.
Over the past week, Hamas released 80 other Israeli women, children, and teenagers as part of a truce agreement in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians linked to terrorism held in Israeli jails. The Israeli government said Friday that 137 people were still being held — 126 Israelis, eight Thais, one Nepali, one Tanzanian, and a French-Mexican.
Retaliatory Israeli assaults, including those on Saturday, have laid waste much of Gaza, ruled by Hamas since 2007, critics say. The Hamas-run health minister claimed more than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed and “thousands” are missing.
While the United Nations views these figures as reliable, they have been difficult to verify independently. It also remains unclear how many fighters are among those killed. Israel says it does not target civilians but claims Hamas has been using them as human shields.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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