CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 people in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said and fighting ramped up, as the Israeli military said it had been targeting command centers used by Hamas.
Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people, including women and children, were killed in two Israeli strikes on two houses in Nuseirat, one of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps.
Another strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City killed at least seven people, medics added.
The Israeli military said in a statement the airstrike targeted Hamas militants operating from a compound that had previously served as Al-Shejaia School.
It accused Hamas of using the civilian population and facilities for military purposes, which Hamas denies.
Later on Tuesday, two separate Israeli attacks killed five Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, medics said.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a tent housing displaced people, medics said.
Hours later, an Israeli airstrike on a car in western Khan Younis, killed six Palestinians, medics said. Footage circulated on social media, which Reuters could not immediately authenticate, showed a mangled, burnt-out vehicle.
Some Palestinians said they feared that Israel’s shift in focus to Lebanon could prolong the conflict in Gaza, which marks its first anniversary next week.
“The eyes of the world now are on Lebanon while the occupation continues its killing in Gaza. We are afraid the war is going to go on for more months at least,” said Samir Mohammed, 46, a father of five from Gaza City.
“It is all unclear now as Israel unleashes its force undeterred in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and God knows where else in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US unveiled further sanctions against Israeli settlers over attacks on Palestinians and destruction of property in the West Bank.
The latest sanctions target the Hilltop Youth, which the US Treasury Department described as a “violent extremist group,” and comes amid soaring tensions in the region nearly a year after Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel.
The US sanctions follow similar moves targeting the group by Australia, Britain and the EU.
“The worsening violence and instability in the West Bank are detrimental to the long-term interests of Israelis and Palestinians, and the actions of violent organizations like Hilltop Youth only exacerbate the crisis,” said Acting Treasury Under Secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley Smith.
In the past year, the US issued a series of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers, while repeatedly voicing concern to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the West Bank violence.
It has however made little impact on the decision-making of the Israeli government, a hardline pro-settler coalition.
“Hilltop Youth has conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinians, engaging in killings, arson, assaults, and intimidation intended to drive Palestinian communities out of the West Bank,” the US Treasury said.
The US State Department also announced it was designating two individuals: Eitan Yardeni, over his connection to violence or threats targeting civilians in the West Bank; and Avichai Suissa, who leads a group which provided support to previously sanctioned individuals.
