AhlulBayt News Agency: The military wing of the Hamas resistance movement says it targeted five Israeli battle tanks in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as dozens of more people were killed in Israeli bombardments in the besieged territory.
In a brief statement, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters targeted a Merkava tank with an explosive device in the al-Saftawi area, west of Jabalia refugee camp.
In a second statement, the group said its fighters targeted four more tanks with explosive devices in eastern Jabalia town.
The al-Qassam Brigades later said in a separate statement that its fighters targeted an Israeli Apache helicopter with a SAM rocket in the east of al-Bureij refugee camp, the central Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army has yet to comment on the Hamas statements.
In recent days, Israeli media reports have cast doubt over the number of resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip, pointing to their "substantial comeback" 15 months into the bloody war on the Palestinian territory.
Israeli media outlets, including The Jerusalem Post, have estimated that there are between 20,000 and 23,000 resistance fighters across Gaza, including those of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, along with local fighters.
"Hamas is making a substantial comeback by recruiting new forces," The Post reported on Thursday.
The newly reported figures challenge the Israeli claims of nearing total victory over Hamas.
The Israeli military reported three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Friday. The rockets were the latest in a spate of launches by resistance fighters in the devastated Palestinian territory.
After more than 14 months of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, such launches still continue. They have intensified since late December as Israel continues a three-month major land and air onslaught in the territory’s north.
Earlier Friday, Israel said another rocket fired from Gaza had triggered sirens near Beeri, opposite central Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defense agency said around 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday.
“Friday was a harsh day for the residents of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City, due to the continual Israeli bombardment,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP news agency.
He said several children were among the dead.
Seven people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, Bassal said.
“They’ve destroyed everything that moves on this earth, even the trees, so what about people? This is a war of extermination,” Gaza resident Mohammed Abu Labda, whose brother was among those killed, said.
Bassal stated that the Israeli military is “preventing food and drinking water from reaching dozens of medical staff, patients and wounded” at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia.
He said the hospital had been sending out distress calls since Thursday, adding that it was now “just a pile of rubble and walls. There’s no hospital.”
A United Nations team visited the Indonesian Hospital on Sunday.
“Around me, there’s nothing but rubble and destruction,” UN aid official Jonathan Whittall said in a video released after the visit.
Meanwhile, Hamas said indirect negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip were set to resume in Qatar later.
Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of back-and-forth talks between representatives from the Tel Aviv regime and Hamas that have failed to end nearly 15 months of the Israeli war.
A key obstacle to a deal has been Israel’s reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.
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In a brief statement, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters targeted a Merkava tank with an explosive device in the al-Saftawi area, west of Jabalia refugee camp.
In a second statement, the group said its fighters targeted four more tanks with explosive devices in eastern Jabalia town.
The al-Qassam Brigades later said in a separate statement that its fighters targeted an Israeli Apache helicopter with a SAM rocket in the east of al-Bureij refugee camp, the central Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army has yet to comment on the Hamas statements.
In recent days, Israeli media reports have cast doubt over the number of resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip, pointing to their "substantial comeback" 15 months into the bloody war on the Palestinian territory.
Israeli media outlets, including The Jerusalem Post, have estimated that there are between 20,000 and 23,000 resistance fighters across Gaza, including those of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, along with local fighters.
"Hamas is making a substantial comeback by recruiting new forces," The Post reported on Thursday.
The newly reported figures challenge the Israeli claims of nearing total victory over Hamas.
The Israeli military reported three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Friday. The rockets were the latest in a spate of launches by resistance fighters in the devastated Palestinian territory.
After more than 14 months of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, such launches still continue. They have intensified since late December as Israel continues a three-month major land and air onslaught in the territory’s north.
Earlier Friday, Israel said another rocket fired from Gaza had triggered sirens near Beeri, opposite central Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defense agency said around 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday.
“Friday was a harsh day for the residents of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City, due to the continual Israeli bombardment,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP news agency.
He said several children were among the dead.
Seven people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, Bassal said.
“They’ve destroyed everything that moves on this earth, even the trees, so what about people? This is a war of extermination,” Gaza resident Mohammed Abu Labda, whose brother was among those killed, said.
Bassal stated that the Israeli military is “preventing food and drinking water from reaching dozens of medical staff, patients and wounded” at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia.
He said the hospital had been sending out distress calls since Thursday, adding that it was now “just a pile of rubble and walls. There’s no hospital.”
A United Nations team visited the Indonesian Hospital on Sunday.
“Around me, there’s nothing but rubble and destruction,” UN aid official Jonathan Whittall said in a video released after the visit.
Meanwhile, Hamas said indirect negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip were set to resume in Qatar later.
Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of back-and-forth talks between representatives from the Tel Aviv regime and Hamas that have failed to end nearly 15 months of the Israeli war.
A key obstacle to a deal has been Israel’s reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.
/129