The Israeli occupation army launched intense airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, targeting a municipal garage in Jabalia in the north that housed Egyptian bulldozers permitted entry by Israel in February.
The equipment was part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, intended for clearing rubble and opening blocked roads. A similar attack occurred in Khan Younis in the south, destroying and setting fire to municipal vehicles and bulldozers, including the Egyptian machines.
A resident in Jabalia told Al Manassa that an Israeli army officer called at dawn, ordering the evacuation of their home and neighboring houses. "We thought they were going to bomb one of the nearby houses next to the garage," the witness said. Less than 20 minutes after the call, an Israeli warplane fired two missiles at the garage, destroying trucks and bulldozers and igniting a fire at the site.
The witness confirmed that two Egyptian bulldozers had been at the garage since Israel resumed its military campaign in March.
Israeli forces also struck more than eight homes and residential buildings in Gaza City early Tuesday, following phone warnings to residents, according to four witnesses who spoke to Al Manassa. In the Sabra neighborhood, one witness said Israel initially targeted land near homes that contained several bulldozers and trucks. The army then instructed residents not to return, before launching a second strike. “They bombed the trucks and bulldozers, and our homes were damaged,” the witness said. “They destroyed the area without any clear reason.”
In Sheikh Radwan, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a residential block that included Halima al-Saadia School, which had been sheltering hundreds of displaced families. A witness told Al Manassa that families fled in haste, carrying only children and elderly relatives, as Israeli forces bombed a house near the school. "We had only minutes to leave and couldn’t take any of our belongings, which we won’t be able to replace with crossings shut and aid trucks blocked," the witness said.
Elsewhere in western Gaza, Israeli warplanes bombed a house without warning, killing four members of one family and injuring five others, a witness told Almanassa.
In eastern Gaza City, Israeli forces carried out dozens of detonations from midnight through dawn, destroying scores of homes and buildings, a journalist source told Al Manassa. The source noted an increase in the demolition of entire residential blocks in the eastern neighborhoods of Shujaiya, Tuffah, and Zeitoun.
The journalist added that Israeli tanks and military vehicles made a partial advance into the eastern neighborhoods on Monday morning before withdrawing at night. The incursion was reportedly aimed at planting explosive devices in residential areas for detonation during the night.
Israeli aircraft also bombed a home in Tuffah on Monday evening, killing three civilians and injuring 10 others. The wounded were taken to the Baptist Hospital, which was also targeted by drone fire on Monday afternoon, causing panic among the injured and medical staff.
Israeli forces shelled a displaced persons camp in Sabra, a densely populated area filled with tents. A witness told Al Manassa that the strike, which came without warning, killed five displaced people and injured 12 others, including women and children who suffered severe burns. The area had been bombed twice previously.
Meanwhile, Khan Younis came under intense bombardment at dawn, targeting camps for displaced people, homes, bulldozers, and trucks, according to a civil defense source. "When we arrived, we found fires raging through the bulldozers, trucks, and municipal equipment, including the Egyptian bulldozers brought in to clear rubble and open roads," the source said.
Earlier in the night, Israeli forces bombed land containing bulldozers and trucks belonging to a construction company near Qarara port in northwest Khan Younis. A journalist source said a resident received a call instructing civilians to evacuate the area before the strike. Seventeen people, including women and children, were killed in seven separate attacks without prior warning.
In Mawasi in the west, two young men were killed when a suicide drone hit their tent directly, a witness told Almanassa. Two brothers from the same family were also killed in southern Khan Younis. Emergency teams recovered two young girls from the same family near Morag junction east of Rafah, according to a medical source.
Mediation by Egypt, the United States, and Qatar led to a ceasefire agreement in mid-January. The first phase began on Jan. 19, during which Israel was expected to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, while preparations were underway for phase two.
Yet, Israel did not pull out from the corridor nor initiate talks for the second phase. Instead, it requested an extension of the first phase and endorsed a proposal from a U.S. envoy for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan and Passover. Hamas rejected the proposal, demanding the immediate implementation of the second phase.
In early March, Israel announced the suspension of humanitarian aid to Gaza "until further notice" after the first phase ended. Hamas condemned the decision as "cheap extortion," a "war crime," and a "flagrant breach" of the agreement. Days later, on March 18, Israel resumed its military offensive on Gaza.
