Five Palestinians, including a child, were killed and more than 20 others injured on Tuesday in Israeli attacks targeting southern Gaza and Gaza City, while the Israeli military announced it had killed three Hamas leaders in separate airstrikes despite the ceasefire agreement signed last October remaining in effect.
A source at Nasser Medical Complex told Al Manassa, speaking on condition of anonymity, that three Palestinians were killed in the south of the Strip, while more than 16 others were injured. The source said one of those killed and nine of the wounded were shot by Israeli military vehicles, while the others were wounded by shrapnel from a missile fired by a reconnaissance drone.
An eyewitness, also requesting anonymity, told Al Manassa that Israeli military vehicles advanced into an area northwest of Rafah, near Khan Younis, and opened machine-gun fire on tents sheltering displaced people, killing one person and wounding others.
The witness added that ambulance crews were unable to reach the victim until nearly six hours later, after international organizations coordinated with the Israeli military, by which time he had died from blood loss.
In another attack south of Khan Younis, a journalist told Al Manassa that a reconnaissance drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people, killing two people and injuring others.
In Gaza City, ambulance crews from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that two Palestinians, including a child, were killed and four others injured in two separate airstrikes targeting the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood southwest of the city, the first near Barcelona Stadium and the second near the governorate building.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll since October 7, 2023, has risen to 73,110, with 173,559 people injured. It added that since the collapse of the ceasefire last October, 1,084 people have been killed and 3,491 injured, while 799 bodies have been recovered from various areas.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced the killing of three Hamas leaders in separate airstrikes.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Israeli military said an airstrike carried out two days earlier in northern Gaza killed Ahmed Yahya Ibrahim Al-Batsh, whom it described as a “commander of an elite Hamas cell,” claiming that he had led “terrorist plots targeting Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.”
It also announced the killing of Hammouda Abu Daqqa, whom it described as a “leader in Hamas’s military intelligence unit.” accusing him of “gathering intelligence on IDF forces to direct and executing terrorist plots.”
In a separate statement issued Wednesday, the Israeli military announced the killing of Mohammed Imad Abdel Rahman Abu Taima, calling him a “commander of an elite cell” in southern Gaza. It accused him of taking part in the October 7, 2023 attack, “leading ambushes against Israeli forces,” and “recruiting new terrorists” into Hamas’ ranks, claiming that Taima posed “an immediate threat” to its forces.
The Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip continues despite the ceasefire agreement remaining in effect with Israel claiming that operations are aimed at eliminating Hamas leaders. Israeli forces continue to bombard civilians and tents sheltering displaced people on a daily basis, leaving numerous casualties, including women and children.
Separately, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Israeli forces escalated their violence against journalists during June, documenting 89 violations targeting journalists, media workers and media students.
According to a report by the syndicate’s Freedom Committee, the violations included killings, injuries, arrests, detention, preventing media coverage, assaults on journalists and their property, as well as the targeting of the home of Al Jazeera Mubasher cameraman Ahmed Washah in Al-Bureij refugee camp, which killed him.
The report said media coverage restrictions accounted for the largest share of documented violations, with 36 cases involving the use of tear gas and stun grenades, threats, preventing journalists from filming and forcing them to journalists to leave the scene.
It also documented the arrests of two female journalists, one male journalist, and a media student, stressing that the majority of the violations occurred while journalists were carrying out field reporting, reflecting what it described as “the direct targeting of media coverage.”
