Israel shells Gaza City amid clashes with Palestinian fighters

Israeli heavy artillery shelling targeted the western outskirts of Gaza City on Thursday, as Palestinian fighters confront forces trying to push deeper into the besieged enclave.

Artillery cannons shelled the neighborhoods of Tel al-Hawa, Sheikh Ijlin and Rashid Street west of Gaza City, sources said.

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, earlier claimed to have destroyed 136 Israeli military vehicles since the army expanded its ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip on Oct. 27.

Israel has launched incessant air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 10,569 Palestinians, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, have been killed since then. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.

Besides the large number of casualties, massive displacements and thousands of buildings razed to the ground, basic supplies are running low for Gaza's 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.