Israel airstrikes destroy apartment, mall in Gaza

Gaza, Aug 24: Israeli airstrikes destroyed a six-story apartment building and a business mall in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah late Saturday, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli fighter jets bombed Zorob residential building which consists of 30 apartments, levelling the construction to the ground, security sources told Xinhua.

A business mall was also destroyed entirely in another Israeli airstrike in Rafah, they added.

The sources did not give further details. Casualties were not immediately clear.

Earlier in the day, Israeli jets destroyed a 13-story Al-Zafer apartment tower in Gaza City. Israel said the buildings were targetted because they were used for meetings between Hamas leaders.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, Sami Abu Zohri, called the targeting of large apartment buildings a war crime, rejecting the Israeli claims that the buildings were used by Hamas.

Egypt had called on Israel and the Palestinians to cease fire indefinitely and immediately resume talks in Cairo to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement that ends the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip.

IANS