Heavy bombardment and airstrikes reported in devastated north while clashes also reported in south as tens of thousands flee Rafah
Fierce battles were under way across much of the devastated north of Gaza on Sunday, with heavy bombardment and airstrikes reported as Israeli forces attacked Hamas militants in areas that have already seen repeated rounds of fighting.
The new clashes underlined the failure of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to secure much of the territory, analysts said, after a campaign that has brought massive destruction, the displacement of about 2 million people and the deaths of around 35,000, mostly women and children.
There were also clashes reported in the south of Gaza, where tens of thousands fled the city of Rafah on Sunday, following bombardment and warnings from the IDF to clear central and eastern neighbourhoods before planned offensives.
Aid officials there believe the total who have now left the city may be about 350,000.
“The streets that were previously packed with [people] living in makeshift tents, most of those tents have been dismantled and people have fled. The area around the United Nations building [in the city centre] is unrecognisable … all of the people who were seeking some degree of sanctuary there have fled,” said Dr James Smith, a British medic currently in Rafah.
In the north, Israeli military officials said forces were operating in Jabaliya camp and Zeitoun, east of Gaza City, as well as in the far north of the territory in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, has been able to reimpose its authority in many areas of the territory in recent months, controlling markets, running Islamic courts and intimidating opponents. Militants have used remaining tunnels to ambush Israeli forces and have continued to fire rockets into Israel.
“We identified in the past weeks attempts by Hamas to rehabilitate its military capabilities in Jabaliya. We are operating there to eliminate those attempts,” R Adm Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesperson, told reporters.
