JERUSALEM/GAZA/BEIRUT - Israel's army announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its ground assault on Gaza's Rafah, reporting approximately 30 casualties since the offensive began on Monday night.
According to an army statement, the 30 casualties were militants, while Gaza health officials reported about 35 deaths, including a four-month-old baby.
The army said that a tank division and an armored brigade have been operating on the ground in eastern Rafah, while attack drones carried out strikes from the air.
They attacked about 100 "targets" in the region, including militant infrastructure and "suspicious buildings" from which Hamas fighters fired at Israeli soldiers, the army said.
The Gaza health authorities said in a press statement on Wednesday that the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 34,844
Israel launched the ground assault on Rafah overnight between Monday and Tuesday, citing its aim to eliminate four Hamas battalions that remain in the southern city.
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Troops gained "operational control" over the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, a key entry point for humanitarian aid from Egypt to the famine-stricken Gaza, and shut it down.
The Gaza health authorities said in a press statement on Wednesday that the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 34,844.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 55 Palestinians and wounded 200 others, bringing the total death toll to 34,844 and injuries to 78,404, since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out last October, it said.
The statement noted that some victims still remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and ambulance crews.
Hamas naval commander killed
Commander of Hamas' naval unit in Gaza City, Ahmed Ali, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday, the Israeli army said in a statement.
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The army and Shin Bet security agency said that an attack drone killed Ali in the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli army also said militants in Gaza fired eight rockets from the Rafah area toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing area in Israel shortly after it reopened on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier
"Over the last few years, Ali has been involved in managing projects of Hamas' Naval Unit in the Gaza Strip," according to the statement.
During Israel's onslaught in Gaza, Ali was responsible for attacks on Israel and against ground troops operating in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army also said militants in Gaza fired eight rockets from the Rafah area toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing area in Israel shortly after it reopened on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier.
The soldier sustained light injuries and received medical treatment at the scene, the army said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the army reported additional launches from the Rafah area that fell short of crossing into Israeli territory and instead landed in the Gaza Strip.
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The Kerem Shalom Crossing, a key entry point for humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave, reopened on Wednesday after Israel closed it on Sunday following the killing of four soldiers in a mortar attack.
Hezbollah, Israeli army exchange fire
A fierce exchange of fire took place between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on Wednesday along the Lebanon-Israel border, said Lebanese military sources.
From 1 am to 1 pm local time (1000 GMT), Israeli warplanes launched 25 airstrikes on Hezbollah and civilian targets in nine border villages and towns in southern Lebanon, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The sources added that another 10 Lebanese villages and towns in the eastern and central sectors of the border area were raided, including villages of Kfarhamam, Mays al-Jabal, Houla, Aita al-Shaab, and Yaroun
In addition, 15 raids were carried out against Hezbollah sites in Jezzine district and other sites in Bint Jbeil district, as well as several villages in the eastern sector of the border region, said the sources.
The sources added that another 10 Lebanese villages and towns in the eastern and central sectors of the border area were raided, including villages of Kfarhamam, Mays al-Jabal, Houla, Aita al-Shaab, and Yaroun.
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Israeli artillery also bombed, with approximately 75 shells, 20 border villages and towns in southern Lebanon, they added.
The Israeli strikes destroyed 40 homes and damaged about 85 others in southern Lebanon.
According to the sources, about 80 surface-to-surface missiles and several drones were launched toward northern Israel, with some of them intercepted and others exploding in the airspace of southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced that its military wing, the Islamic Resistance, launched missile and drone attacks on several Israeli sites, resulting in casualties.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas's attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
