Report

Palestinian media reported on Thursday that a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed dozens of people.

At least 15 people were killed when Jabaliya, a blockade coastal area, died, according to news agency WAFA.

WAFA also reported several other fatal strikes, including the city of Gaza. The agency quoted medical staff as saying that a total of 52 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the early morning.

The Israeli military said it targets the command and control center used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihadists in Jabbaria. The military said the facility was used to plan and coordinate attacks on Israeli civilians and said precautionary measures were taken to minimize harm to non-combatants.

The claims of both parties cannot be independently verified.

The ongoing war in Gaza began with an Israeli attack led by Hamas on October 7, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were taken.

Since then, more than 51,300 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-operated Health Bureau.

IDF general warning expansion operation

Also on Thursday, the IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir warned that an expanded military operation was carried out in the Gaza region if no progress was made in ensuring the return of hostages held by Hamas.

“If we can't see progress on hostage return, we will expand the activity to more intense, more important actions until we achieve decisive results,” he said.

He added: “Hamas mistakenly thinks of our ability, our intentions and our determination.”

Israeli Defense Minister Katz recently echoed a similar threat, pointing out that the longer Hamas refuses hostages, the more severe the Israeli strike.

Kaz also suggested that Israel could permanently occupy parts of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities believe that 24 hostages in the Gaza Strip still exist, while Hamas and its allies possess 35 bodies.