TEHRAN – The Palestinian resistance in Gaza wages more deadly operations against the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attempting to invade Gaza City. 

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that its resistance fighters targeted three IOF Merkava tanks in the southern area of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

According to al-Qassam, the operation took place in the vicinity of Salah al-Din Mosque and Zeitoun Clinic, south of the Zeitoun neighborhood

Dozens of resistance fighters confirmed the success of the mission after returning from the front lines.

Earlier, al-Qassam reported that it had struck another Merkava tank and a D9 military bulldozer with a “Yassin 105” rocket-propelled grenade and a “Shawaz” explosive device on Street 8, southwest of Zeitoun.

Al-Qassam also published a video showing part of a complex ambush it carried out earlier in Beit Hanoun’s agricultural area in northern Gaza. The attack was part of the ongoing “David’s Stones” operations, which targeted IOF soldiers.

In a statement shared on social media, al-Qassam said at least five IOF soldiers were killed and several others injured during the ambush. Israeli media at the time described the incident as “highly dangerous” and “one of the most complex events” since October 7, 2023.

Israeli media also reported that one of the injured was a senior officer from the Nahal Brigade, which had recently taken over operations in northern Gaza.

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced that it fired two rockets at the Israeli settlement of Netivot in retaliation for the regime’s military actions against Palestinians.

The IOF confirmed the attack, claiming that one rocket was intercepted while the other landed in an open area. 

Hebrew media reported that sirens had sounded across areas near the Gaza border and as far as western Negev due to rocket launches.

Despite the ongoing U.S.-backed genocidal war and blockade, Palestinian resistance factions continue to strike military targets and settlements, underscoring what they say is the occupying regime’s failure to achieve its war objectives, particularly the dismantling of the resistance.

Hebrew media outlet Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the regime’s political leaders will rename the Gaza City operation from “Gideon’s Chariots 2” in an effort to “market” it to Israeli settlers as a “new step,” rather than associating it with the previous operation that officially ended in failure.

Meanwhile, indiscriminate and extremely deadly airstrikes continue to land on civilian areas, sparking global outrage. 

A report from Save the Children revealed that more than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the genocide began nearly 23 months ago, averaging at least one child every hour.

The organization said these deaths account for approximately 2% of the entire child population in the Strip. At least 1,009 of those killed were under the age of one, with about 450 of them born during the war and dying before their first birthday.

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that at least 42,011 children have been injured, while the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities estimates that over 21,000 children have been permanently disabled. Thousands more remain missing or are believed to be buried under rubble.

Save the Children warned that the lives of surviving children are increasingly at risk, especially as famine spreads in Gaza. 

More than one million people, half of them children, are facing catastrophic hunger, marking the most extreme level on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification scale. At least 132,000 children under five are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition. 

The organization reported that IOF airstrikes have destroyed 97% of schools and 94% of hospitals in Gaza. Children are seven times more likely than adults to die from blast injuries.

The organization further reminded the international community that under international humanitarian law, children are entitled to special protection due to their heightened vulnerability. Respecting these laws, it stressed, is a matter of humanity, not a choice.

Separately, Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza has said that at least 300,000 children in the Strip have now been classified as suffering from malnutrition.

The Ministry of Health In Gaza announced on Sunday that the number of victims in the genocide has risen to 64,368 dead and 162,776 injured, while the Israeli occupation continues to bomb various areas across the Gaza Strip.