GAZA, Nov. 23 — Gaza’s Civil Defense said on Saturday that Israel launched a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, resulting in at least 22 deaths and dozens of injuries in the enclave.
According to Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense, those killed included a commander from the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing.
A Hamas source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the movement has informed regional mediators of its “anger” over continued Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas and other Palestinian factions adhering to the ceasefire agreement.
The source added that Hamas urged the mediators to “intervene immediately to prevent the collapse of the agreement as Israel seeks,” stressing that the movement and other factions remain committed to the ceasefire despite the escalation.
The source also warned that Israel’s continued killing of residents in the enclave, along with what he described as the U.S. “slow pressure” on Israel to restrain its actions, could push the situation toward potential chaos.
The Israeli army launched wide-ranging attacks on several areas of the coastal enclave on Saturday afternoon, leaving multiple casualties, according to local medical sources.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops had completed a pursuit of 17 militants who emerged from a tunnel network in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 11 of them.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect in October, Israeli attacks have killed 318 people and injured 788 others, bringing the total death toll since Oct. 7, 2023, to 69,733 and the number of injured to 170,863, according to the Gaza-based health authorities. Namibia Daily News / Xinhua
