At least 14 Palestinians, including a top Hamas financial official, were killed on Sunday in Israeli air strikes on Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the military offensive as long as necessary.
Israel on Sunday took its military campaign to a new level by flattening a 13-storey apartment tower in Gaza following a warning to residents to evacuate. The strikes in the southern town of Rafah came just hours after Israel bombed an apartment tower in Gaza City, collapsing the 12-storey building with 44 apartments. Around 30 people were wounded but no one was killed, officials said.
The targeting of large buildings appears to be part of a new military tactic by Israel. Over the weekend, the Army began warning Gaza residents in automated phone calls that it would target buildings harbouring “terrorist infrastructure” and that they should stay away.
The Air Force attack killed Hamas operative Muhammad Al-Aoul in northern Gaza, the latest senior member of Hamas targeted in recent days. Army sources described him as a key figure in Hamas’s finances division. The strike came days after the IDF killed three senior Hamas commanders in the Rafah area last week and killed the wife and son of Hamas military leader Muhamad Deif.