Israel Vows To Intensify Air Strikes After Killing ‘Dozens Of Terrorists’

By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s military said Sunday it would intensify airstrikes on Gaza after “killing dozens of terrorists” in overnight attacks, but it warned Palestinians still in the north of the territory to flee south.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped flyers over Gaza City, warning citizens in the north of potential consequences if they don’t leave ahead of an expected ground offensive. “Remaining in North Gaza means association with terrorists, risking one’s life,” the IDF said in the flyer seen by Worthy News.

However, the IDF stressed that it targets “Hamas terrorists” and their infrastructure, not civilians. In footage meant to underscore these policies, the IDF released a video purportedly showing that an air strike near the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in central Gaza City was aimed at a nearby structure of Hamas.

The church was part of “collateral damage” as Hamas fighters use churches, hospitals, and schools as shields for their terrorist operations, the IDF said. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry claimed at least 16 Palestinians died in the strike. The church did not confirm that death toll.

Yet an Israeli military spokesman said civilians leaving North Gaza would allow Israel to “minimize the risks to our forces in the next stages of the war” – which is expected to be a ground invasion.

Hamas claims 55 people were killed in air raids on Gaza overnight, but Israel maintains it killed “dozens of terrorists.”

GRAPHIC FOOTAGE

Graphic images showed bodies of about a dozen dead children and many other Palestinians at a hospital morgue in central Gaza.

But it was clear when or where they died, and there is virtually no press freedom in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Separately, the Israeli military said it struck “a Hamas cell” sheltering in a mosque in the West Bank, the other Palestinian enclave.

The United Nations said it hopes it can get more aid into Gaza on Sunday, saying vital supplies reached people for the first time since fighting erupted from Egypt.

As the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week, Israeli data showed more than 1,400 people were killed in Israel by Hamas gunmen over the last two weeks.

Palestinian officials, including the Hamas-ruled health ministry, say more than 4,300 have been killed in Gaza since then.

Latest Worthy News