THE Hamas health ministry said at least 50 people were killed late yesterday in a single hour of increased Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.

“The Israeli occupation expands its targeting of multiple areas in the Gaza Strip, killing about 50 martyrs during the last hour,” a health ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The Israeli military vowed on Saturday to step up its air raids in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, heightening a conflict that has already left thousands dead on both sides.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that the military had hit Hamas with its “harshest” worst day of losses on Monday.  

“We are striking the enemy with great force. Yesterday, in our attacks in Gaza, we struck the enemy the harshest blow they have taken in a single day,” Netanyahu told troops during a visit. He did not give details.

Israel was stunned by the October 7 Hamas attack on southern communities in which more than 1,400 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage. It is expected to launch a land invasion of Gaza.

Hamas said Israel’s air and artillery strikes have already killed 5,791 people in Gaza, including more than 2,000 children and about 1,400 women. – AFP, October 25, 2023.