Israel Pounds Central Gaza, Sends Tanks Into North of Rafah

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Abdullah Azzam mosque, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Abdullah Azzam mosque, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Israel Pounds Central Gaza, Sends Tanks Into North of Rafah

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Abdullah Azzam mosque, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Abdullah Azzam mosque, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least nine Palestinians, according to health officials, while Israeli tanks carried out a limited advance further into Rafah in the south.

In one Israeli airstrike around midnight on a house in Al-Zawyda in the central Gaza Strip, eight people were killed, the health officials said. Another strike killed a man in Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave's eight refugee camps, where 23 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school a day ago.

Israeli tanks also shelled the eastern areas of Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi camps in the center of enclave, residents said. An airstrike destroyed a mosque, residents said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile in Rafah, tanks carried out a raid in the north of the city before retreating, a tactic Israeli forces have used in other areas before mounting deeper incursions. Tanks have operated in most parts of the city since May, although have not gone deep into the northern districts.

Medics said an Israeli strike killed two people in Rafah on Wednesday, while residents said the forces had blown up dozens of homes.

The Israeli military said troops were "continuing precise, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area". It said it they had eliminated what it called a “terrorist cell” and a launcher that had been used to fire at troops.

It said airstrikes had struck 25 targets throughout the Gaza Strip during the past day and that troops were continuing to operate in the central area, including to dismantle structures used to observe the soldiers.

Nine months into the war, Palestinian fighters led by the Hamas are still able to attack Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets, and mortar bombs and from time to time fire barrages of rockets into Israel.

Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage in an attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.

On Tuesday, the military said it had eliminated half of the leadership of Hamas' military wing, with about 14,000 fighters killed or captured since the start of the war.

At least 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities say. Israel says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.



Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
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Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

More than 273,000 Syrians who fled their country's civil war to neighboring Türkiye have returned home since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad in December, Türkiye's vice-president said Friday.

"The number of people who have voluntarily returned to Syria since December 8, 2024 has exceeded 273,000," Cevdet Yilmaz was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu news agency.

Some 2.7 million Syrian refugees are still in Türkiye, according to interior ministry figures released in May.

The Turkish government, which supports Syria's new rulers, is hoping to accelerate the return of refugees to ease tensions generated by their presence in parts of the country.