Signing you in

Palestinians mourned the casualties on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, as they gathered for funeral prayers in Gaza City on Thursday.

Videos from the site showed flames emerging from a window of a building, while bystanders were seen rushing to carry wounded people, including children, to ambulances.

The Israeli military on Wednesday announced it had launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip to target two Hamas militants, AP reported. Among those killed was Hamas’ Imad Isleim.

Earlier this week, an Israeli strike also killed Mohammed Odeh — the newly-appointed leader of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, Al Jazeera reported.

His killing comes less than two weeks after his predecessor was killed by Israeli forces.

Across the Gaza Strip, 16 people were killed and 39 others wounded over the past 48 hours, Gaza’s health ministry stated late Thursday.

The latest Israeli strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the expansion of his country’s control over Gaza.

“Right now we are tightening the grip on Hamas,” Netanyahu said on Thursday while addressing the Jordan Valley Conference in the occupied West Bank.

“We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. You know that? We were at 50%, we moved to 60%.”

The Israeli PM instructed the country’s military to move to 70% control of Gaza, with Israel “tightening the grip” on Hamas “from every direction,” AP quoted.

“We will deal with the remnants,” Netanyahu asserted, adding, “But the most important thing is to continue leveraging our power, to increase it.”

“There is still more work. What is happening right now is truly a global change. There is no doubt about that,” Netanyahu added.