Israeli Offensive Intensifies: First Evacuees Depart Gaza
GAZA/JERUSALEM—A first group of injured evacuees from Gaza crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a Qatari-mediated deal, Egyptian media said, as Israeli forces pressed their battle against Hamas terrorists in the Palestinian enclave.
The evacuees were driven in ambulances through the Rafah border crossing. Under the deal reached between Egypt, Israel, and Hamas, a number of foreigners and critically wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged territory.
The evacuation followed another day of bloodshed in Gaza in which an Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed about 50 people in a refugee camp, according to Palestinian health officials.
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Israel said the attack killed a senior Hamas commander and many other combatants.
Israel sent its forces into Hamas-controlled Gaza following weeks of air and artillery bombardments in retaliation for a deadly attack by the Islamist group on southern Israel on Oct 7.
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas. But the civilian death toll in Gaza and the desperate humanitarian conditions have caused great concern across the world as food, fuel, drinking water, and medicine run short and hospitals struggle to treat casualties.
The Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 300 soldiers and some 1,100 civilians, Israeli figures say.
At least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children, were killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the Gaza health ministry says.
Refugee Camp Hit
The Israeli military said Tuesday’s
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