Israeli Forces Carry Out Air, Ground Attacks In Gaza

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 48 Palestinians, including a journalist and rescue workers, medics said, and the Israeli military said its air and ground forces in the north of the enclave killed dozens of militants and captured others.

An airstrike hit the civil emergency centre in the Nuseirat market area in the central Gaza Strip, killing Ahmed Al-Louh, a video journalist for Al Jazeera TV, and five other people, medics and fellow journalists said.

The TV network said he was working when he was killed and condemned Israel.

The Israeli military said the strike had targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants operating from Gaza’s Civil Defence’s Nuseirat office. It is named Al-Louh as a member of the mi%litant group Islamic Jihad without providing evidence.

Al Jazeera did not immediately comment on the Israeli allegation but has condemned previous claims by Israel naming some of the Qatari-owned network’s journalists killed in the Gaza war as members of militant groups.

Hamas media said the head of the civil emergency service in Nuseirat, Nedal Abu Hjayyer, was also killed.

“The civil emergency headquarters in Nuseirat camp was hit during the crews’ presence, they work around the clock to serve the people,” said Zaki Emadeldeen from the civil emergency service to reporters at the hospital.

Another airstrike hit a group of Hamas-linked men tasked with protecting aid trucks west of Gaza City, and medics said several were hurt, but exact figures were unavailable.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq