CAIRO: At least 17 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza City in the early hours of Sunday morning, civil emergency and health officials said.
The fatalities resulted from at least four separate Israeli airstrikes on four houses in different areas of the city. Residents and Palestinian health officials said the Israeli military had stepped up aerial and ground shelling.
Meanwhile, Hamas said Gaza ceasefire talks had not paused and the group’s military commander was in good health, a day after the Israeli military targeted Mohammed Deif with a massive airstrike that local health officials said killed at least 90 people, including children.
Israel said the attack targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif but it was uncertain whether he had been killed. However, the Israeli military on Sunday announced that Rafa Salama, a Hamas commander it described as one of Deif’s closest associates, was killed in Saturday’s strike.
Hamas said that Israeli claims that it had targeted leaders of the group were false and were aimed at justifying the attack. However, Hamas representatives gave no evidence to back up their assertion about Deif’s health.