Israel carries out air strikes on rocket launching site in Gaza Strip

TEL AVIV: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday it carried out an airstrike on a rocket launch site in the southern Gaza Strip.

Fighter jets hit the militant site near the city of Khan Younis after a rocket was fired from there toward the Ein HaShlosha kibbutz on Friday, the IDF said.

In addition, a mortar launching site in central Gaza was also destroyed, a statement said.

The Israeli navy has also conducted strikes along Gaza's coast over the past day.

According to Palestinian security services, the Israeli army attacked a building in the village of Abasan in the east of Khan Younis and shelled refugee camps in the central part of the Palestinian territory. It said at least one Palestinian was killed in the Israeli navy strikes.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ground offensive in Rafah would proceed regardless of any potential truce deal with Hamas.

In addition to this, the United Nations' humanitarian office and health agency warned that an Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in Gaza could lead to a "slaughter" and worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in the region.

Meanwhile, as of Friday, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said the death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks since October 7 stood at 34,622, which was 26 more than the prior day.