Israel strikes south, central Gaza, as war enters 100th day

Israeli tanks and aircraft hit targets in southern and central Gaza on Sunday and there were fierce gun battles in some areas as the war reached 100 days since the October 7 attack led by gunmen from the Islamist Hamas movement.

Israeli tanks and aircraft hit targets in southern and central Gaza on Sunday and there were fierce gun battles in some areas as the war reached 100 days since the October 7 attack led by gunmen from the Islamist Hamas movement.

Communications and Internet services were down for the third day running, complicating the work of emergency and ambulance crews trying to help people in areas hit by fighting.

Fighting was concentrated in the southern city of Khan Younis, where Hamas said its fighters hit an Israeli tank, as well as in Al-Bureij and Al Maghazi in central Gaza, where the military said several militants were killed.

Also Read: Israel-Hamas war | Timeline of major events from the first 100 days

The military also said its forces destroyed several rocket pits used by Hamas to fire missiles at Israel.

Over the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said 125 people had been killed and 265 wounded, bringing the total number confirmed to have been killed since the start of the war to almost 24,000, with more than 60,000 wounded.

Speaking through video link to a conference in Istanbul, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the October 7 attack by the group's fighters who rampaged through Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing around 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.