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‘Israel’s military gave me just minutes to leave my apartment before it was bombed. I’m lucky to be alive’
Confirmed
In Short: The Independent reports that Israeli military strikes in Gaza destroyed the home of a newly married couple, killing multiple Palestinians and continuing a brutal campaign that has killed over 1,200 people since a ceasefire.
Just after midnight, Neveen Abu Hatab and her husband Mohammed were awoken suddenly by the sound of shouting from their neighbours. In the space of just minutes, those hopes were once again shattered as an Israeli missile reduced their Gaza home to rubble, according to The Independent.
The Israeli military claimed it struck in several areas in the Gaza Strip and dismantled four Hamas weapon storage facilities, killing two Hamas commanders in its overnight strikes on 30 July, according to a statement from the military.
Meanwhile, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that three Palestinian citizens were killed in the Gaza City strikes overnight, and another 21 killed across the Strip by Israeli shelling and gunfire after dawn.
Over nearly three years, the Israeli military has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, during a bombardment and invasion it launched after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October in which militants killed 1,195 people, according to Israeli tallies.
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- The destruction of the house was heartbreaking for the couple, who had recently married and hoped to get their lives back on track after nearly three years of a brutal Israeli bombing campaign.
- Israel has continued launching attacks on Gaza and seized more territory since a ceasefire deal was agreed last October, killing at least 1,222 Palestinians during that time, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.
- Meanwhile, Hamas has stated that it will disarm, but only if Israel ends “all forms of aggression” against it and withdraws its forces from Gaza.
- They claimed the facilities held “Kalashnikov guns, explosive devices, additional ammunition and military equipment”.
- Hassan Labad, the deputy head of the security mechanism, along with senior officials Asem Shabir, Abdullah Abu Kaloub, and Mohammed Abu Marek, were killed in the strikes, the Israel Defense Forces said.
- “The senior officials of the general security mechanism were eliminated to remove a threat, after they were recently involved in attempts to rebuild the Hamas terror organization and assisted the organization’s senior leadership in advancing terror activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops,” the military said in a statement.
- Medics said four apartments were hit, including the family’s home, before dawn.