ISTANBUL

Hamas's military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades said Thursday that its fighters targeted several Israeli military vehicles across the Gaza Strip.

In separate statements, it said it targeted three tanks and a bulldozer with rocket-propelled grenades in Gaza City as well as in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The armed wing said its fighters also ambushed Israeli forces inside a home in the Al-Qarara area of Khan Younis, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

The Israeli army is yet to comment on the statements, but earlier Thursday, it said eight soldiers were injured in Gaza in the past 24 hours.

The death toll among Israeli troops since Oct. 7 stands at 597, including 253 killed since the start of an Israeli ground operation in Gaza as of Oct. 27.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, in which 1,139 Israelis were killed.




More than 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 74,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.




The Israeli army has also imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving most of the population, particularly residents of the north, on the verge of starvation.




The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.




Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.



In its Thursday verdict indicating additional measures, the top court ordered Israel to ensure "unhindered provision" of urgent aid to Gaza. The ICJ said that “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine...(but) famine is setting in.”

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar