Israeli fire kills 30 Palestinians as tanks roll into central Gaza camp

CAIRO: Israeli forces sent tanks into the western side of Gaza’s Nuseirat camp on Monday in a new incursion into the enclave’s central area and Palestinian medics said Israeli military strikes had killed at least 30 people since Sunday night.

Residents said Israeli tanks opened fire as they rolled into that sector of the camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee sites, causing panic among the population and displaced families. One resident, Zaik Mohammad, said the tanks’ advance was a complete surprise.

“Some people couldn’t leave and remained trapped inside their homes, appealing to be allowed out, while others rushed out with whatever they could carry as they fled,” Mohammad, 25, who lives one kilometre away from the targeted area, told Reuters via a chat app.

In attacks overnight and into Monday, health officials at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat said 20 people were killed in a series of strikes from air and the ground, one that hit a tent encampment.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, where Israeli forces have operated since Oct 5, medics said four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Others were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City

At Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, medics said Israeli fire from a drone wounded three medical workers in the facility. There was no Israeli comment on Monday’s violence.