Israel pounds Gaza, tanks advance in Rafah; 9 dead

Cairo, July 17

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Israeli forces hit 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.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes have killed at least 81 Palestinians and wounded 198, the Gaza health ministry said. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its casualty count.

In an Israeli airstrike around midnight on a house in Al-Zawyda in Gaza, eight people were killed. In Rafah, two people were killed in another airstrike.

The Israeli military said troops were “continuing precise, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area”. — Reuters