A senior Hamas official, with a key role in the development of the organization’s missile systems, was “neutralized” by IDF forces in the last few hours, according to the latest statement from the Israeli military.

Mohsen Abu Zina was killed by an IDF fighter jet, the statement said.

Additionally, overnight, IDF troops spotted a terrorist cell planning to launch anti-tank missiles. The Israeli air force killed several terrorists, the statement added.

Operations in the heart of Gaza continue

At the same time, Israeli military operations continue today in the center of Gaza City, in the northern part of the Palestinian territory, where the situation of hundreds of thousands of civilians, who are still there, is becoming increasingly disastrous after a month of deadly war. .

The troops are now “in the heart” of Gaza City, in the northern part of the strip, where ground fighting and a bombing campaign have intensified in recent days to “destroy Hamas”, the defense minister said yesterday, Tuesday evening. Joab Gallant.

“There will be no humanitarian truce without the return of the hostages,” added the Israeli minister. More than 240 people were abducted, according to Israel, on the day of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli soil that triggered the outbreak of war.

At least 1,400 people were killed in that attack, the majority of them civilians who died on the same day as the Hamas attack, which was the bloodiest in Israel’s history.

On the Palestinian side, more than 10,300 people, the majority of them civilians and among them 4,237 children, have lost their lives since October 7 in Gaza, according to yesterday’s account of the Hamas Health Ministry.

“Overcrowded Cemeteries”

The communication service of Hamas in Gaza claimed yesterday, Tuesday evening, through the Telegram platform, that the cemeteries “are overcrowded and there is no more space for burials.”

In the face of the catastrophic humanitarian situation prevailing in this small besieged territory, calls for a ceasefire have multiplied from the UN, non-governmental organizations, leaders of the Arab world and other countries.

“Our incessant calls for an immediate ceasefire have gone unanswered,” Doctors Without Borders said last night, announcing the death of one of its workers in a shelling attack on the Sati refugee camp in the Gaza City district.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on parties to end civilian suffering and deplored a “moral failure”. This organization announced yesterday that one of its convoys with humanitarian aid to the al-Quds hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent was targeted by fire, the origin of which it did not specify.

“These are not the conditions in which humanitarian staff can work,” said William Shoburg, a local ICRC official.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which cites figures from Hamas’ health ministry, 192 health workers have been killed since the start of the war.

The idea of ​​a cease-fire has also been rejected by the US, a close ally of Israel, which instead suggests “humanitarian ceasefires” and insists on “Israel’s right to defend itself”.

According to diplomatic sources, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) most developed industrialized countries, who are meeting in Tokyo, are today seeking to issue a joint call for “humanitarian pauses”.

For Gaza’s 2.4 million residents, the desperation is intense after a month of incessant shelling.

“Stop this machine of destruction. Save us,” asked yesterday Hisham Kulab, a displaced Palestinian who was also found by the shelling in Rafah, in the southern part of the territory.

In Israel, the population yesterday paid tribute to the victims of the October 7 attack that traumatized the country.

“The atrocities left a terrible scar, traumatized personally, but also nationally,” said Asher Cohen, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, whose graduates were killed in the Hamas attack.

With information from APE