Hamas says it shot Israeli army officer in Gaza’s Jabalia

Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Sunday that it had shot an Israeli army officer in the northern Gaza Strip.

The group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said the officer was shot by its fighters in the Jabalia refugee camp, without specifying whether he was killed.

The claim came one day after Hamas said that its fighters had killed five Israeli soldiers in clashes in Jabalia on Saturday.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Hamas' claim.

Israel has continued a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.

The Israeli onslaught in northern Gaza was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 45,200 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.