Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war.

Israel’s forces also took over some ground in Rafah, a southern city next to the Egyptian border that is packed with displaced people and where the launch this month of a long-threatened incursion to crush hold-outs of Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas has alarmed Cairo and Washington.

In what Israeli media said was the result of intelligence gleaned during the latest incursions, the military announced the recovery of the body of a man who was among more than 250 hostages seized by Hamas in a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 that triggered the war.

Ron Binyamin’s remains were located along with those of three other slain hostages whose repatriation was announced on Friday, the military said without providing further details.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Israel has conducted renewed military sweeps this month of parts of northern Gaza where it had declared the end of major operations in January. At the time, it also predicted its forces would return to prevent a regrouping by the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza.

One site has been Jabalia, the largest of Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps. On Saturday, troops and tanks edged into streets so far spared the ground offensive, residents said.

“Today is the most difficult in terms of the occupation bombardment, air strikes and tank shelling have going on almost non-stop,” said one resident in Jabalia, Ibrahim Khaled, via a chat app.

“We know of dozens of people, martyrs (killed) and wounded, but no ambulance vehicle can get into the area,” he told Reuters.

The Israeli military said its forces have continued to operate in areas across the Gaza Strip including Jabalia and Rafah, carrying out what it called “precise operations against terrorists and infrastructure.”

“The IAF (air force) continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, and struck over 70 terror targets during the past day, including weapons storage facilities, military infrastructure sites, terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops, and military compounds,” the military said in a statement.

RISING DEATH TOLL

Armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Fatah said fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and Rafah with anti-tank rockets, mortar bombs, and explosive devices already planted in some of the roads, killing and wounding many soldiers.

Israel’s military said 281 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on Oct 20.

In the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 1,200 people were killed. About 125 people are still being held in Gaza.

In Rafah, where Israeli tanks thrust into some of the eastern suburbs and clashed with Palestinian fighters there, residents said Israeli bombing from the air and ground persisted all night.

Israel says it must capture Rafah to destroy Hamas and ensure the country’s security.

The post Israel Pushes Into New Parts of Northern Gaza, Recovers Another Slain Hostage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – British naval security firm Ambrey said on Saturday it had received information that a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker was attacked in the Red Sea off Yemen’s Mokha.

Ambrey said a radio communication indicated the vessel was hit by a missile and that there was a fire onboard. It did not provide details of the communication.

Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, who controls the most populous parts of Yemen and are aligned with Iran, has staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around Southern Africa, and stoking fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilize the wider Middle East.

The post Houthis Attack Another Oil Tanker in Red Sea first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – At least seven people, including two women, were hanged in Iran on Saturday as the Islamic Republic has further intensified its use of capital punishment, a monitor said.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it has tallied at least 223 executions this year, with at least 50 so far in May alone. A new surge began following the end of the Persian New Year and Ramadan holidays in April, with 115 people including six women hanged since then.

Second only to China in the overall number of executions, Iran carries out more recorded executions of women than any other country.

Iran last year carried out more hangings than in any year since 2015, according to human right monitors, which accuse the mullah regime of using capital punishment as a means to instill fear in the wake of protests that erupted in autumn 2022.

Rights group say the death penalty is dispassionately used against Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities, such as Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Balochis.

Iran has been roiled by occasional bursts of unrest since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 16, 2022. The 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman fell into a coma and died three days later following her arrest by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

The incident unleashed years of pent-up anger over issues from tightening social and political controls to economic hardships, triggering the clerical establishment’s worst legitimacy crisis in decades.

The post Iran Further Ramps Up Executions, Hanging At Least 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.