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| Images By AFP |
Gaza - Israeli forces carried out air strikes and artillery shelling in central Gaza overnight on Friday, according to residents, as regional tensions escalated over fears of a potential Iranian attack on Israel.
The strikes come amid stalled ceasefire talks aimed at pausing the six-month-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. France has urged its citizens to avoid traveling to the region due to concerns that Iran could launch an assault on Israel soon.
Mohammed al-Rayes, 61, told AFP he fled "air strikes and artillery shelling" in the central Gaza town of Nuseirat. "It was all fire and destruction, with so many martyrs lying in the street," he said.
Another Nuseirat resident, 40-year-old Laila Nasser, reported "shells and missiles" throughout the night. "They will do to Nuseirat what they did to Khan Yunis," she said, vowing to flee south like most Gazans have done.
Israel pulled troops from the devastated city of Khan Yunis last week after months of fighting but said it was preparing operations against Hamas militants in Rafah, near Egypt.
Authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza reported dozens of new air strikes in the central region on Friday. The Hamas media office said 25 people were taken to hospital in Deir al-Balah after a home was struck.
The Israeli military confirmed conducting strikes against over 60 Hamas operatives in Gaza over the past day. The current conflict erupted on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians according to Israel.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 people in Gaza so far, primarily women and children, based on figures from Gaza's health ministry which reported at least 89 new deaths on Friday.
The flare-up comes after Iran threatened retaliation over Israeli air strikes in Syria this month that killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard generals.
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