Israel launches fiercest attacks so far on Gaza

Israel assaulted southern Gaza’s main city in what it said was the fiercest combat since it began its ground invasion to eliminate Hamas five weeks ago. The death toll surged to at least 16,248 people including 7,112 children and 4,885 women, according to Hamas media office. Thousands more are missing and feared buried under rubble.

Israel reported its forces, backed by warplanes, on Tuesday reached the heart of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and also surrounded the city. Hamas’ armed wing, the al Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters engaged in clashes with Israelis.

“We are in the most intense day since the beginning of the ground operation,” the commander of the Israeli military’s Southern Command, General Yaron Finkelman, said in a statement.

They were also the most pitched battles since a truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed last week. Israeli forces also fought in Jabalia, a large urban refugee camp in northern Gaza next to Gaza City, and in Shuja’iyya, east of the city, Finkelman said.

Hamas’ armed wing said that it killed or wounded eight Israeli troops and destroyed 24 military vehicles on Tuesday. An Israeli military website listed two troop deaths for Tuesday and 83 since the ground operation began.