GAZA, July 29 (KUNA) -- Up to 50 Palestinians lost their life and scores others suffered injuries in the beleaguered Gaza Strip as a result of ongoing Israeli land and air attacks, noticeably stepped up over the past hours, according to Palestinian medical sources in the besieged enclave.
The sources said "50 Palestinian martyrs have fallen" and scores of Gazans have suffered wounds as a result of a series of fierce attacks and raids that targeted their houses in Khan Youness and Al-Buraij camp. Twenty of the dead were members of Hamdan Bou-Jabr family, whose houses were hit with rockets fired by the raiding Israeli warplanes in Al-Buraij.
The attacking aircraft, the sources added, hit houses of the municipal official, Anis Abu Shamala, who died along with a number of his relatives. The other deaths were reported in Khan Youness, Deir Al-Balah, Rafah and Al-Nusairat. Moreover, they hit and damaged several buildings belonging to the Islamic movement Hamas, including those housing offices of radio stations for the movement and its local ally, Islamic Jihad.
A spokesman of the Palestinian Ministry of Health said the latest round of attacks by the Israeli military aircraft and ground forces was the fiercest since launch of the wide-scale Israeli offensive on the enclave 23 days ago.
Israeli warplanes, roaring continuously over the strip, bombed several targets in the region while the Israeli artillerymen targeted buildings and underground tunnels of Hamas, whose fighters have been entrenched in and around the enclave. TV footages showed plumes of black smoke billowing into the clear skies from the hit locations.
Latest casualty figures include many women and children, the Palestinian official spokesman said.
The Palestinians' casualty toll in this war has soared to more than 1,130 deaths and 6,500 injured, including many children, women and elderly.
Among the sensitive targets hit by the Israeli forces were a main power station, residence of the top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah, along with a number of mosques.
The surge of military assaults coincided with Israeli official reports confirming death of at least 10 Israeli soldiers in close-range combat with the Palestinian fighters in several regions, including the shell-hammered district of Al-Shujaieh. The district had witnessed some of the fiercest clashes between the assaulting forces and the Palestinians, turning scores of buildings and houses into heaps of rubble and twisted metal.
Israel's death toll since flare-up of the fighting has reached 53, bulk of whom were among the military personnel.
The escalation of attacks over the past hours came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to carry on with the offensive on Gaza till disarming Hamas and wrecking its infrastructure, namely the maze of underground tunnels used for smuggling and waging surprise attacks on the Israeli forces stationed around Gaza.
The Israeli forces, since flare-up of the hostilities, have made some advances into the districts skirting the strip. Although the personnel have been moving with protection of heavy armor and under cover of military aircraft flying overhead, they have suffered heavy casualties due to stiff resistance by the militants, particularly trained on guerrilla warfare tactics.
Israeli officials have acknowledged that the Palestinians used some effective surface-to-surface rockets in the ground combats, coupled with deployment of various calibers of rockets of longer range that targeted Israeli cities and towns, including Tel Aviv.
The fighting had erupted in the aftermath of death of three Jewish settlers who lost their life after being kidnapped in the occupied territories. Israel accused Hamas of being responsible for their death, which was also followed with an identical incident that involved a lone Palestinian teenager. (end) ab.rk