Israel’s military said Monday it carried out airstrikes throughout the Gaza Strip, days after an Israeli strike targeting a senior Hamas leader in southern Gaza killed at least 90 people.
The Israel Defense Forces also reported ground operations in central and southern Gaza against what the military called terrorist infrastructure and militants who were readying attacks against Israeli forces.
Still unclear Monday was the fate of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif following the Saturday Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis.
Hamas officials, without providing evidence, denied that Deif was killed in the attack.
Hamas also said Sunday that it was not withdrawing from cease-fire talks as a result of the Khan Younis strike.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working to broker a cease-fire deal, but have yet to achieve a new agreement that includes a halt in fighting and the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in which the militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.
Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks have killed at least 38,500 people and injured more than 88,800 more, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Maritime security agencies reported Monday the latest suspected attack by Yemen-based Houthi militants on the key Red Sea shipping route, a campaign the Houthis say is in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a merchant vessel reported being attacked by three boats about 140 kilometers southwest of Yemen’s Red Sea Port of Al Hudaydah.
One of the boats was uncrewed and collided twice with the merchant vessel, UKMTO reported.
The merchant vessel crew used “self-protection measures” and the attackers fled after about 15 minutes, the agency said. There were no injuries to the merchant vessel’s crew.
The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November, prompting many commercial ships to avoid the area and instead use longer and costlier routes.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
