Troops attack targets in eastern Gaza City and pre-dawn bombardments reportedly kill dozens
Israeli troops backed by armoured vehicles and aircraft have mounted another ground raid into Gaza in advance of an expected invasion.
Infantry and engineering units struck targets overnight near the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City under cover of air force helicopters, drones and jets, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Friday.
It followed a substantial but limited raid into a northern part of the coastal strip the previous night in an effort to scout Hamas positions and tunnel networks.
Fresh bombardments before dawn killed dozens, including children and a journalist, Yasser Abu Namous, the Palestinian Authority-run news agency Wafa reported.
The latest attacks came as aid workers prepared to send eight trucks with food, medicine and water into the enclave. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said sporadic, limited deliveries were just “crumbs” when measured against the humanitarian needs of 2.4m people.
“The current system in place is geared to fail,” he told a press conference in Jerusalem. “What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. And to succeed, we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need.”
Lazzarini said 57 of the agency’s staff had been killed in the conflict. He issued a tacit rebuke to sceptics of casualty figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which says more than 7,000 people have died in Gaza since 7 October.
