At least 70 Palestinians have been killed in an air attack on the Maghazi refugee camp, which a Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson describes as a “massacre”.
Israeli strikes that began hours before midnight persisted into Christmas Day on Monday. Residents and Palestinian media said Israel stepped up air and ground shelling against al-Bureij in central Gaza.
At least 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Maghazi in central Gaza, health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said, adding that many were women and children.
The Israeli army said it was reviewing the report of a Maghazi incident and was committed to minimising harm to civilians. Hamas denies the Israeli charge that it operates in densely populated areas or uses civilians as human shields.
The Palestinian Red Crescent published footage of the wounded being transported to hospitals. It said Israeli warplanes were bombing main roads between central Gaza, hindering the passage of ambulances and emergency vehicles.
Medics said a separate Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed eight Palestinians.
Israeli army admits it is fighting a “complex and complicated war” with many soldiers killed. It says at least five dead captives’ bodies retrieved from a tunnel in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military estimates that seizing Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, may take many months.
At least 16 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the enclave over the weekend, according to the report, which coincides with an increase in Israeli military losses in Gaza.
Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with armed group Hamas during Israel’s ongoing ground offensive in the besieged territory.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody “have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies”, Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told reporters.
Hams said the freed Palestinians were admitted to Al-Najjar hospital upon their release.
