At least 29 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza: civil defense

GAZA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 29 Palestinians were killed, and dozens injured on Monday in multiple Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the authority, told Xinhua that 15 bodies were recovered and over 10 people were rescued following an Israeli strike on residential apartments in the Al-Karama neighborhood, north of Gaza City. Additional strikes in the city killed five more individuals and wounded at least 10 others.

In Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, seven people were killed, while two others died in a strike west of Khan Younis in the south, according to Basal.

The latest casualties have brought the death toll to 2,459, with 6,569 injured since Israel resumed military operations on Gaza on March 18. The total death toll since October 2023 has reached 52,567, Gaza-based health authorities said on Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday that the IDF on Sunday struck loaded and ready-to-fire Hamas rocket launchers in the area of Khan Younis, which were reportedly aimed at Israeli territory.

Also on Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its fighters carried out an ambush targeting an Israeli engineering unit near the separation fence in the Al-Farahin area, east of Khan Younis.

According to a statement released by the Brigades, its fighters launched an anti-personnel missile at the unit, followed by close-range gunfire.

The Israeli army has not commented on the incident.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that it facilitated the transfer of 10 Palestinian prisoners released at the Kissufim crossing in southern Gaza to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

The ICRC said in a press statement that its teams reunited the detainees with their families and supported the medical examination process in coordination with the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2 following the expiration of the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The second phase has yet to be implemented due to a lack of consensus between the parties. ■