“MASSIVE EXPLOSION”
In Hamas-run Gaza, the Israeli military said its forces continued “operational activity” in the northern areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, the targets of an intense offensive since early October.
Troops also operated in the southern district of Rafah, the army said.
Israel says its renewed operations in the ravaged north were meant to stop Hamas militants from regrouping.
A United Nations-backed assessment at the weekend warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, and UN figures showed the Israeli operation had forced at least 100,000 people to flee.
Israel has pushed back against a Human Rights Watch report this week that said its displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity”, as well as findings from a UN Special Committee that pointed to warfare practices that “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide”.
A foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the HRW report as “completely false”, while the United States – Israel’s main military backer – said accusations of genocide “are certainly unfounded”.
The Gaza health ministry said at least 35 people were killed in the territory in the previous 24 hours, taking the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war to 43,799.
The majority of the dead were civilians, according to ministry figures which the UN considers reliable.
Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The civil defence agency reported 11 people killed in strikes across Gaza early on Saturday.
In Rafah, Jamil al-Masry said a house was hit, causing “a massive explosion”.
“We went to the house, only to find it in ruins, with fire raging and smoke and dust everywhere,” he told AFP.
People “started searching for martyrs and survivors” with their bare hands, he said, with some “still under the rubble”.
