Israel awaits word on three hostages, strikes across Gaza

Israeli forces bombarded targets in the south, north and centre of Gaza on Monday ahead of an expected announcement by Hamas on the fate of three Israelis held hostage by the Palestinian militant group shown in a video clip at the weekend.

Twelve Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike overnight on a house in Gaza City in the north, health officials said, while plumes of smoke rose above the main southern city of Khan Younis shelled by Israeli tanks.

Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Press Agency SAFA reported fierce clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli forces in Khan Younis, while Israeli tank barrages were also reported near the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza.


In Al-Nusseirat refugee camp, local journalist Doaa El-Baz showed footage of what had once been the street where she lived. "This whole neighbourhood is destroyed. Not a single house has been spared," she said, standing before rubble.

Communications across the narrow coastal Gaza Strip remained severed for a fourth consecutive day, residents said. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed two Palestinian fighters in an airstrike on their vehicle as it was transporting weapons in Khan Younis, and also raided a Hamas command centre in that city and struck two arms caches.