80 killed as Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza – Hamas

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas government reported on Wednesday that Israel’s recent nighttime airstrikes in the besieged Palestinian territory resulted in the deaths of at least 80 individuals.

According to a statement from the government’s media office, “Over 80 people were confirmed as casualties, with many losing their lives and hundreds sustaining injuries” during the overnight attacks.

On Tuesday, the Hamas health ministry had previously stated that a total of 5,791 individuals had lost their lives in a series of air and artillery strikes that began after Hamas conducted cross-border raids on October 7. Israel claims that these raids resulted in 1,400 deaths. A significant number of casualties on both sides are civilians.

The Israeli military asserted that their nighttime operations targeted Hamas’s emergency response infrastructure, including their command centers, military facilities, and headquarters. They reported carrying out hundreds of daily airstrikes against targets such as tunnels, weapon depots, mortars, and anti-tank missile launchers.

A substantial contingent of Israeli troops has been deployed near the Gaza border in preparation for a widely anticipated ground invasion.