Israel and Hamas Each Claim Wins in Fierce Fighting in Northern Gaza
The New York Times
As the renewed clashes in the north of the enclave neared the three-month mark, there was no sign of them abating.
After nearly three months of an intensified Israeli military campaign in northern Gaza to quell what Israel has said is a Hamas resurgence, fighting raged unabated on Monday, with each side claiming successes against the other’s fighters.
The Israeli military released a statement saying that one soldier had been killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip and that three members of the same brigade had been severely injured in the same clash. The statement provided no additional details.
The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said it had destroyed an Israeli vehicle in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, killing and wounding an unspecified number of soldiers. The militant group also said that it had targeted Israeli soldiers in another northern town, Jabaliya, killing five.
The Israeli military declined to comment, saying it does not respond to the announcements of “terror organizations.”
For its part, the Israeli military announced that it had killed and arrested “multiple” militants in an overnight operation near Jabaliya as they were trying to “flee, deploy deception tactics and conduct ambushes.” It said that action followed a “targeted operation” against a Hamas command center “embedded inside Kamal Adwan Hospital” in the same area over the weekend that led to the arrest of more than 240 militants.
Israel said its troops were “continuing to operate" in the area.
