Jerusalem, May 8 (EFE).- At least 35 Palestinians were killed over the past day as Israel continued to bombard Rafah, the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said on Wednesday.
Israel began attacking Rafah, which hosts 1.5 million Palestinians displaced during the last seven months of war between Hamas and the Israeli military, on Monday and ordered the evacuation of the civilian population from the eastern part of the city.
Nearly 130 people sustained injuries in the attacks in Rafah in the 24 hours from Tuesday morning, the Palestinian sources said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it were “conducting a precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah.”
Without specifying the numbers, the army said that “terrorists were eliminated and underground shafts and infrastructure located in different areas.”
The Israeli Army Tuesday took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing by rolling tanks into the Palestinian territory along the border with Egypt after an overnight assault that killed several people.
The army said it is relying on intelligence to capture Hamas militants operating in the area through selective raids.
Israel claimed that four battalions of the Islamist group remain in that southern area of the enclave.
Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that the remaining Hamas militants would likely move north and regroup there.
But Israeli troops “will return and operate wherever necessary,” he said.
The international community, including the US, has repeatedly raised concerns about the disastrous consequences of a large-scale military operation in Rafah, given that more than half of Gaza’s entire population resides there.
Israel has ordered the evacuation of approximately 100,000 people from the eastern sector of Rafah. These evacuees are relocating to Mawasi, an area already overwhelmed with displaced persons.
Apart from the operation in Rafah, the Israeli air force said it targeted over 100 militant sites across the Gaza Strip.
These include military installations, observation posts, launching sites, and other military infrastructure.
The official Palestinian Wafa news agency has documented Israeli airstrikes not only in Rafah’s Geneina neighborhood but also in the city’s western parts, resulting in multiple fatalities.
Wafa reported that two women were killed in artillery attacks in the city of Khuzaa, in the east of Khan Yunis.
Additionally, Israeli artillery and helicopters have struck the Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City and Mughraqa in the central region, according to the Palestinian agency. EFE
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