"Precise operation"

Israel launches operation in the central part of Gaza

An Israeli tank(Bild: Associated Press)

According to Israel's army, it launched a military operation in the central part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. An army statement spoke of a "precise operation based on intelligence information, with the aim of eliminating terror activists and hitting terror infrastructure in the central section of Gaza". Before the advance of ground troops, fighter planes attacked terror targets above and below ground.

According to medics, at least five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee neighborhood in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

Israel: Terrorist tracked down as he exited tunnel
The army said that during the operation at night, soldiers "identified an armed terrorist who came out of a terror tunnel near Israeli troops and went into a military facility". A fighter jet had hit him as he approached the troops. Several rocket launchers were also found. The navy also fired on several targets in the area.

According to Hamas, 33,482 people killed in the Gaza Strip
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 33,482 people have been killed and more than 76,000 others injured in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Gaza war more than six months ago. The figures, which do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, cannot be independently verified.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7 last year.

Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is coming under increasing international criticism. Israel had recently withdrawn most of its troops from the south of the Gaza Strip.