Troops met with Hamas fire in Rafah operations
- Hamas fighters fire rockets and mortars at Israeli troops and tanks as they enter Gaza’s southern Rafah city with three soldiers wounded in a blast in a booby-trapped tunnel.
- An estimated 80,000 Palestinians attempt to flee Rafah as Israel shells eastern area of the besieged city sheltering some 1.5 million people.
Israeli-American billionaire slams Biden decision on bomb transfer
Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, a major donor to US President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, urged the White House to “reconsider” sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel for its ongoing invasion of Gaza.
“Let’s not forget that there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters that care about Hamas,” he wrote in a letter to Biden.
“Even beyond Israel, this sends a terrible message to our allies in the region and beyond, that we can flip from doing the right thing to bending to political pressure.”
Saban, who hosted a major Los Angeles fundraiser for Biden’s reelection campaign in February, said “defeating” Hamas is a shared goal that Biden is now acting against.
Booby-trapped tunnel blast wounds 3 Israeli soldiers in Rafah
The armed wing of Hamas in Gaza says it has detonated a booby-trapped tunnel in eastern Rafah when Israeli soldiers and vehicles were nearby, inflicting casualties.
The Israeli army confirmed the explosion and said three soldiers were “moderately” wounded. The Qassam Brigades claimed multiple attacks on Israeli positions, signaling heavy fighting is ongoing in southern Gaza.
In the north in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, Palestinian fighters hit Israeli forces with mortar rounds and targeted two armoured vehicles with al-Yassin rockets and an anti-tank explosive device, the The Qassam Brigades said. In the Sabra neighbourhood, also in Gaza City, a D9 military bulldozer was destroyed, it added.
Along the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which the Israeli army constructed to separate northern and southern Gaza, the Qassam Brigades claimed several mortar attacks.
