Israeli Air Strike Kills Al Jazeera Journalists in Gaza
Six journalists, including five Al-Jazira journalists, were killed in a targeted airstrike in Gaza after Israel denounced one of Hamas’ ties.
CAIRO, Aug. 17 (Reuters) – Palestinian extremist group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel’s plans to relocate Gaza city residents would constitute a “new wave of genocide and evacuation” for the region’s hundreds of thousands of residents.
The group said Israel’s planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment into southern Gaza was a “blatant deception.”
Israeli forces said they have been preparing to provide tents and other equipment ahead of the plan, starting Sunday, ahead of plans to relocate residents south of the district from the combat zone “to ensure safety.”
Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of the tent under the guise of humanitarian purposes was a blatant deception intended to “conceal the brutal crimes that the occupying forces prepare to execute.”
Earlier this month, Israel said it intends to launch a new attack to take control of North Gaza city, the largest city centre of the enclave. The plan raised international caution about the fate of the destroyed strip, home to around 2.2 million people.
According to Israeli authorities, a war began in which Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza, around 20 are thought to be still alive.
Subsequent military attacks on Israel’s Hamas killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says. It also caused a hunger crisis, evacuating most of Gaza’s population internally, leaving much of the enclave in abandoned.
(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Written by Menna Alaa El-Din, Edited by Tomasz Janenski and Sharon Singleton)
