9/5/2024–|Last updated: 5/9/202408:54 AM (Mecca time)
The Israeli occupation army continues its violent aerial and artillery bombardment on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. While the eastern neighborhoods of the city are witnessing fierce clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation forces, the occupation forces are penetrating the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood and its surrounding areas in Gaza City.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent in Gaza reported that 8 Palestinians, including 4 children, were killed and 16 others were injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, west of the city of Rafah.
The reporter added that ambulance teams transported the injured and the bodies of the martyrs to Kuwait Hospital in the city center, in light of an acute shortage of medical supplies and all other services.
In turn, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the Israeli occupation’s closure of the Rafah border crossing prevents the United Nations from bringing in fuel, without which all humanitarian operations will stop, and also hinders the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Ghebreyesus said in a tweet on the In Rafah.
The Israeli aggression against Gaza caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, which has a population of 2.4 million people, as it led to the death of more than 34,000 Palestinians, the injury of more than 78,000, and causing massive destruction in the besieged Strip.
Fierce battles
On the ground, the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas movement – announced that its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces penetrating east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Al-Qassam also announced the bombing of concentrations of occupation forces at the “Karm Shalom military site” with a short-range “Rajum” missile system of 114 mm caliber, in addition to targeting concentrations of Israeli forces east of the city of Rafah with heavy-caliber mortar shells.
In turn, the Al-Quds Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement – announced that its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with machine guns and assault rifles with Israeli soldiers and vehicles penetrating east of the city of Rafah.
It also announced the bombardment of Israeli soldiers and their vehicles penetrating the vicinity of the airport and the Al-Shoka neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, with heavy-caliber mortar shells and 60-millimeter regular mortar shells.
On the other hand, Israeli officials confirmed that the military operation would continue in Rafah. While the occupation army spokesman said in a press interview that the Gaza war is the most difficult in the world.
The Israeli army said that it was targeting Hamas brigades and its infrastructure east of Rafah, stressing that the forces of the 401st Brigade were continuing to raid the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.
New incursion
North of the Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul said that the occupation forces penetrated by land into the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, leading to the displacement of hundreds of families.
He added that Israeli vehicles advanced on Street No. 8, amid intense fire and missiles from Israeli helicopters towards the neighborhoods of Al-Sabra, Al-Zaytoun and Tal Al-Hawa.
For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli forces and an infantry force west of the “Netzarim” axis with mortar shells.
In a related context, the government media office in Gaza announced the recovery of 49 bodies from a third mass grave inside the Shifa Medical Complex, bringing the number of mass graves found inside hospitals in the Strip to 7 graves so far, from which 520 martyrs were recovered.
The media office confirmed in a statement that government crews continue to recover more bodies.
He added that the occupation army executed nearly 400 Palestinians during the storming of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where it executed hundreds of wounded, sick, displaced, and medical staff.
The media office in Gaza called on the countries of the free world to put pressure on the occupation in order to stop the genocidal war against the health sector and hospitals. He also called for the opening of an independent international investigation into the crimes committed by the occupation against medical personnel, the wounded, the sick, and the displaced.