Israeli army kills 8,000 Hamas militants since early October Bombs Al-Maghazi camp in centre of Gaza

As many as 8,000 extremists of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas have been liquidated by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since the beginning of the current escalation of armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip on October 7.

"The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have eliminated 8,000 Hamas terrorists since the start of the war," The Jerusalem Post reports.

According to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, at least 70 people were killed in IDF strikes on several houses in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central part of the Strip.

The IDF destroyed an entire residential neighbourhood.

The number of casualties may rise as more people remain under the rubble.

"The Palestinian Information Centre reports that after a short break, the IDF Air Force resumed strikes on central areas of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Arab media reports that Hamas and Islamic Jihad delegations have left Egypt after the failure of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks with Israel.

Representatives of these delegations reportedly left Cairo on December 24.

As early as last week, the leadership of the Hamas organisation, following talks in Cairo, confirmed reports that it had rejected Israel's proposal to hold another round of prisoner exchanges during the humanitarian pause. But the talks appeared to have continued for some time after that.

Hamas claimed that "the time for pauses has passed" and demanded a complete end to the war in Gaza. Only then Hamas will be ready to return to negotiations on the conditions for the release of the nearly 130 hostages held in Gaza since October 7.

The Hamas leadership confirmed that the Israeli side had proposed a seven-day ceasefire and an "exchange" in which 40 hostages - women, elderly men and wounded in need of medical care - would be released. But Hamas is no longer prepared to consider such proposals, the terrorist organisation said in a statement.