Fighting rages in southern Gaza, Israeli strikes hit central areas

[Pelican Press 0]

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Fighting rages in southern Gaza, ******** strikes hit central areas

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) – ******** forces battled ************ fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, and struck areas in the centre of the coastal enclave where thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes have been seeking shelter.

Residents in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, said fierce battles raged between ******-led fighters and ******** forces, especially in the centre and in western areas where tanks advanced in the previous two days.

The armed wings of the Islamic ****** and ****** Islamist militant groups said fighters confronted ******** forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar ******.

The ******** military said its soldiers had ******* a group of fighters who were moving towards them, and destroyed ammunition, tunnel shafts and infrastructure in Tel al-Sultan, in the eastern part of the city.

A ceasefire effort led by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the ******* States has so far ******* because of disagreements between the combatants, who blame each other for the impasse.

******** strikes in the previous 24 hours ******* at least 64 and wounded more than 100 others, the local health ministry said. At least 22 were ******* by strikes on Sunday, according to the ******-run Gaza government media office.

******** strikes in areas of central Gaza in the past week have been focused on the Al-Nuseirat camp, where dozens of people have been *******.

“We hear the sounds of explosions in Nuseirat and we see the smoke rising from here in Deir Al-Balah, the last refuge you can say and we are being terrorized by the feeling tanks may roll here,” said Tamer Aburakan, a resident of Gaza City, now displaced in the central area of Deir Al-Balah.

“Where should we go next? The entire Gaza Strip is under ***** and we are being hunted like deer in a forest. When is enough? When the war will ever end?” he said via a chat app.

TENSIONS HIGH

******* vowed to eradicate ****** after its fighters ******* 1,200 people and took more than 250 ******** in an ******* on Oct. 7 last year, according to ******** tallies. At least 38,983 Palestinians have been ******* in *******’s retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities say.

Tensions are high in the region, with concerns remaining over a possible spread of *********.

******** jets struck Houthi military targets near Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Saturday, a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed group hit Tel Aviv, and separate ******** strikes targeted a depot storing ammunition belonging to Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, security sources said.

******* said on Tuesday it had eliminated half the leadership of ******’ military wing and ******* or captured about 14,000 fighters since the start of the war. ******* says 326 of its soldiers have been ******* in Gaza.

****** does not release casualty figures and said ******* exaggerates its reports to give the impression of a “fake victory.”

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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