Jerusalem/Gaza: The Israeli military said it has bombed 40 targets in central Gaza, following Hamas' claims that its men killed and wounded several Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza. Israeli military spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a press statement on Saturday that Israeli aircraft struck 40 "terrorist targets" in the Gaza Strip over the past few hours, including military buildings, weapons depots and others.

People were asked to leave the refugee camp immediately.

In a separate statement, the Israeli army asked residents of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, from where rockets were fired towards Israel, to immediately evacuate, Xinhua news agency reported. It said the movement was being called upon to evacuate residents of these areas due to continued rocket fire by Hamas or the army would remove them by force.

Bomb blast in two Israeli army vehicles

Meanwhile, Hamas' armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades claimed on Saturday that its men killed and injured some Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City. "Our men detonated bombs on two Israeli army vehicles around the University College in Tal al-Hawa, south of Gaza City," the press statement said.

The statement said that Hamas men clashed with soldiers with machine guns, killing some Israeli soldiers and wounding others. The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident.

Israeli TV confirmed that 11 soldiers were injured.

Israeli Kan TV news reported that 11 Israeli soldiers were injured in an incident in Gaza, but it did not give any further details. Gaza-based health officials said in a statement on Saturday that during the past 48 hours, the Israeli army has killed 69 people and injured 136 others, bringing the total number of deaths to 40,074 and injured to 92,537 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began in October 2023.