GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) -Residents and officials reported that on Monday, as combat erupted in Gaza and Israeli tanks penetrated farther into the enclave, the terrorist Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad launched a flurry of rockets into Israel.
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According to the armed branch of Islamic Jihad, a Hamas partner funded by Iran, its militants responded to "the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people" by firing rockets into various Israeli villages near the Gaza border.
The Israeli military reported that the barrage of about 20 missiles hurt no one. However, the strike demonstrated that, despite an operation that Israel claims is meant to neutralize threats against it, terrorists still have access to rockets over nine months into the campaign.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, violence also erupted on Monday. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, an Israeli military operation in the city of Tulkarm resulted in the deaths of a woman and a kid. An Islamic Jihad member was killed in the same place by an Israeli attack one day prior.
In numerous areas of Gaza where Israeli soldiers have been stationed for months, terrorist attacks continue.
Locals report that Israeli tanks spent a sixth day pushing farther into the Shejaia area in eastern Gaza City. Additionally, they made great strides in the center and west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, near the border with Egypt.
The Israeli military reported that it had discovered several weapons in Shejaia on Monday and that it had killed several terrorists in action there.
The militant Islamist organization that controls Gaza, Hamas, claimed that its members had killed some Israeli soldiers after luring them inside a home that was set on fire east of Rafah.
Without giving any further information, the Israeli military declared that a soldier had died in southern Gaza. According to Israel's Army Radio, the soldier was murdered in a house that was set on fire in Rafah. This may be a reference to the event that Islamic Jihad described.
The Israeli military said that an airstrike had killed a jihadist in Rafah after he had launched an anti-tank missile at their soldiers.
Israel has given indications that it may shortly wrap up its operation in Rafah, which was intended to eradicate Hamas. According to authorities, once the war's main phase ends, the troops would concentrate on smaller-scale operations aimed at preventing Hamas from reassembling.
According to Israeli counts, the battle started on October 7 when fighters commanded by Hamas stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 prisoners, including soldiers and civilians, before retaking Gaza.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel's retaliatory onslaught has claimed the lives of about 38,000 Palestinians and destroyed the densely populated coastal territory.
Although officials claim that the majority of the fatalities are civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry does not discriminate between fighters and non-combatants. According to Israel, at least one-third of the Palestinian deaths in Gaza are combatants, while 317 of its troops have died there.
STALLED CEASEFIRE EFFORTS
The US-backed attempts by Arab mediators to achieve a ceasefire have faltered. According to Hamas, a solution must bring an end to the conflict and result in an Israeli departure from Gaza. Israel claims that until Hamas is destroyed, it will only tolerate brief cessations of hostilities.
Palestinian border officials claimed that 54 Palestinians who had been captured by Israeli forces during the conflict had been freed.
Among them was Al Shifa Hospital's director, Muhammad Abu Selmeyah, who was taken into custody by the military when its forces initially invaded the hospital in November.
Israel said that Hamas was making military use of the facility. The military has led the media into a tunnel located at the facility and presented CCTV footage from the hospital obtained on October 7, which shows gunmen and captives on the property.
Hospital use for military objectives has been refuted by Hamas. On Monday, Abu Selmeyah refuted the accusations and stated that several captives had perished and that other mistreatment had occurred during their incarceration, including deprivation of food and medication.
At a news conference held at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Abu Selmeyah stated, "I was beaten in the head until blood came out, multiple times, and I was subjected to severe torture." He also shattered his little finger.
Israel declared in May that it was looking into the deaths of Palestinians who were taken prisoner during the conflict as well as allegations of mistreatment made by rights organizations and freed detainees against a military-run detention center.
The military refrained from commenting on Abu Selmeyah's statements right away.
(Writing and reporting from Cairo by Nidal al-Mughrabi; additional reporting from Jerusalem by Maayan Lubell and Dubai by Clauda Tanios; editing by Timothy Heritage)
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