Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 330 people

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the northern Gaza Strip from across the border in southern Israel on March 18, 2025.[AFP]

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll from Israel's most intense strikes on the territory since the start of a truce had risen to "at least 330".

"The health ministry has recorded more than 330 deaths, most of them Palestinian women and children, and hundreds of wounded, dozens of them in critical condition," the head of the ministry, Mohammed Zaqut, told AFP.

Two Hamas sources told AFP on Tuesday that Israel's overnight strikes on Gaza killed General Mahmud Abu Watfa, who headed the militant movement's interior ministry in the territory.

Abu Watfa, who headed Hamas's police and internal security services in the Gaza Strip, was killed in a strike on Gaza City, said the two sources, one of them an official at the interior ministry.

The Israeli army has urged Gazans to evacuate areas near the border after it unleashed a wave of deadly overnight strikes, the most intense since a ceasefire began in January.

In a post on X, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a warning to residents "specifically in the neighbourhoods of Beit Hanoun, Khirbet Khuza'a, Abasan al-Kabira, and Al-Jadida".

"These designated areas are considered dangerous combat zones... For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the known shelters in western Gaza City and those in Khan Yunis," the post said.

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