Smoke rises over Gaza as part of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, seen from southern Israel on Jan. 5, 2025. (Credit: Kai Pfaffenbach/ Reuters Photo)
Gaza rescue services reported Sunday that at least 23 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli army claims to have targeted around 100 "terrorist sites" over the past two days.
According to Gaza’s Civil Defense, at least 11 people, including women and children, were killed in a dawn airstrike on a house in northern Gaza.
"Rescuers are still searching for five people trapped under the rubble," Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said. "They are working with their bare hands due to the lack of proper equipment."
Several other airstrikes across Gaza killed an additional 12 people, according to Civil Defense reports.
"The [Israeli] occupation uses the false pretext of the presence of fighters to carry out violent airstrikes on homes sheltering dozens of displaced people," Bassal added.
The Israeli army announced Sunday that it had "struck more than 100 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip and eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists" on Friday and Saturday.
The army also said it targeted several sites used by Palestinian fighters to launch projectiles toward Israel in recent days.
According to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which the UN considers reliable, at least 59 people were killed between Friday and Saturday.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened on Wednesday to intensify airstrikes on Gaza if Hamas continued firing rockets into Israel.
Israel has reported near-daily rocket fire for more than a week, though the frequency of attacks has decreased compared to the early days of the war, which began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7, 2023.
The escalation in fighting comes as indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel resumed in Qatar to reach a ceasefire agreement and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts led by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, no truce has been reached since the week-long ceasefire in late November 2023.
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