Israel -Hamas War: Israeli air force strikes 600 targets in a day as IDF expands ground assault into northern Gaza

The Israeli Air Force has said it attacked 600 targets in Gaza, including weapons warehouses, hiding places, and gatherings of Hamas operatives and anti-tank positions in a 24-hour period.

In one incident, a fighter jet targeted a building ‘with over 20 Hamas terrorist operatives inside,’ the military said. In another, a fighter jet was guided to an anti-tank missile launching post in the area of Al-Azhar University.

Israel said it also struck targets in Syria and Lebanon. The attacks, the Israeli military said Monday, were in response to attacks launched from both countries.

Israel Defense Forces said, “During clashes with terrorists in the Gaza Strip, IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels and attempted to attack the troops.” Hamas also has reported heavy fighting in northwest Gaza.

Save the Children said in a statement that the number of children reported killed in Gaza in three weeks “has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019.” More than 3,000 children have been killed in the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

The Israeli military again on Sunday issued an urgent call to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip to evacuate southward temporarily, away from the epicenter of the war against Hamas.

“Relocating southward is for their personal safety,” chief spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Sunday.

“We are today emphasizing that this is an urgent call,” he said in a televised briefing. He also reported that the number of people confirmed held hostage in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 cross-border onslaught in southern Israel was now 239.

Israel also reported that its ground forces killed several Hamas militants as they exited a tunnel near the Erez crossing, the sole pedestrian passageway from Gaza into Israel before it was destroyed in the recent fighting.