IDF says it hit weapons site in Gaza, as 6 said killed in Strip, includi...

IDF says it hit weapons site in Gaza, as 6 said killed in Strip, including girl

Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday reportedly killed at least six people, including a 9-year-old girl, as Palestinian media reported a series of particularly heavy strikes in Gaza City, which the army said targeted a weapons production site and killed Hamas operatives who were working there. Medics said Israeli gunfire directed at a tent encampment on the eastern side of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza hit 9-year-old Tala Abu Matar. She succumbed to her wounds and was taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. The military said it was unaware of the incident. Separately, the military carried out a large strike in the Sabra area of Gaza City Sunday afternoon, which it said hit a makeshift weapons production site. Footage shared by Palestinian media showed the moment of the strike, indicating that the IDF gave prior warning. Witnesses said the site was hit with three missiles. According to the army, it bombed the site as Hamas operatives were working there. Recently, Hamas operatives worked at the site to “manufacture weapon components in an attempt to restore the organization’s capabilities,” in a “violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the military said. “The manufacturing site was struck while several Hamas terrorists were operating inside it,” the IDF said, adding that the operatives were advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians. IDF says two Hamas members killed last week The IDF announced separately that it killed two Hamas operatives in strikes in the Gaza Strip last week, both of whom it said were advancing attacks on troops stationed in the area. A strike on Saturday killed Hassan Mustafa Zahir Al-Razina, whom the military said tried to plant explosive devices “in the area of the Yellow Line,” and advance other attacks. A separate strike on Thursday killed Mohammad Mahmoud Abd al-Mu’ti Fayyoumi, identified by the IDF as a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force. Fayyoumi was advancing “imminent” attacks on troops operating in Gaza, the military said. Both operatives had “posed an immediate threat to the troops and were eliminated in aerial strikes,” the IDF added. Counting Sunday’s deaths, at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. That toll is unverified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, though the Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall figure is largely accurate. Overall, Hamas says over 73,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked the war in the enclave. The IDF says it has killed over 23,000 combatants in Gaza and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.