Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have continued unabated in recent days, despite international and UN calls for a halt to the violence.
As of today, Friday, the death toll from the various Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip has risen to 160, according to local media sources. A medical source told Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that at least 60 Palestinians were killed during Israeli airstrikes overnight until this morning.
Rafah Brigade
The Israeli military also announced the elimination of the “Rafah Brigade” and claimed to have killed 2,000 Hamas fighters.
In a previous statement, the Israeli army’s 162nd Division claimed to have “completed the elimination of the Rafah Brigade and killed approximately 2,000 Hamas members, in addition to destroying 13 kilometers of tunnels,” according to their claims.
The statement further alleged that the 162nd Division had conducted “precise operations in Rafah over the past few months, resulting in the deaths of over 2,000 fighters.”
Additionally, the Israeli army claimed to have “destroyed 80% of the tunnels near and under the Philadelphi Route,” referring to the Salah al-Din corridor between Gaza and Egypt.
The tunnels, which Hamas has constructed over the years and extend for kilometers beneath Gaza, have posed a significant challenge for the Israeli military since the war erupted on October 7.
Israel’s Stance on Hamas
Since the onset of the conflict, Israel has maintained its goal of eliminating Hamas and recently reaffirmed its refusal to relinquish military control over the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Route, despite pressure from mediators, including Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, who are involved in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since October, over 41,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed.
