Hamas has said its fighters in Gaza fired anti-tank missiles at Israel’s invading forces early on Tuesday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a halt to fighting that has deepened the Palestinian enclave’s humanitarian crisis.
According to Reuters, the al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said fighters clashed early on Tuesday with Israeli forces “invading the southern Gaza axis, (including) with machine guns, and targeted four vehicles with al-Yassin 105 missiles’, referring to locally produced anti-tank missiles.
The fighters also targeted two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in northwest Gaza with the missiles, al-Qassam said. Reuters was not able to confirm the reports of fighting. Israel’s military had no immediate comment.
Gaza health authorities say that 8,306 people, including 3,457 minors, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7. U.N. officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.
The mounting death toll has drawn calls from the U.S., Israel’s top ally, other countries and the U.N. for a pause in fighting to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the enclave.
Netanyahu said late on Monday that Israel would not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas in Gaza and would press ahead with its plans to wipe out the group.
Israel’s military said it struck more than 600 targets in recent days in Gaza, where Palestinian civilians are in dire need of fuel, food and clean water.
