Tel Aviv intensifies bombing, Gazans struggle for shelter

GAZA/CAIRO, Dec 3

Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip sought shelter in an ever-shrinking area of the south on Sunday as Israel stepped up its bombing from air, sea, and land across the enclave.

Israeli forces bombed wide areas of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians. Bombardments were concentrated on Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, residents said. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the flow of wounded, they said.

The Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Hamas-ruled enclave was reportedly among the sites that were hit. A Gazan health ministry spokesperson said several people were killed by an Israeli air strike there.

The violence took place despite calls from the United States - Israel’s closest ally - for Israel to avoid further harm to Palestinian civilians.

More than 15,523 have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry, in nearly two months of warfare that broke out after a Hamas cross-border raid on southern Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.

Israel says it is acting to annihilate Hamas, saying it poses a mortal threat to the Jewish state’s very existence.

Tanks had cut off the road between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, effectively dividing the Gaza Strip into three areas, the Gaza residents said.

Additionally, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have announced to unearth more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the ground offensive which which began in late October, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israel Defense Forces says troops have discovered more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the ground offensive which began in late October. — Agencies