Jerusalem/Gaza, Aug 18 (IANS): The Israeli army has announced that it had bombed 40 targets in the central Gaza Strip as Hamas claimed its militants had killed and wounded some Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a press statement on Saturday that Israeli aircraft raided 40 "terrorist targets" in the Gaza Strip over the past few hours, including military buildings, weapons depots, and others, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a separate statement, the Israeli army called on residents of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately due to the firing of rockets towards Israel.

He added that the evacuation order was issued due to Hamas' continuous firing of rockets from these areas, stressing that the army would act forcefully and immediately.

Meanwhile, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed on Saturday that its militants had killed and wounded some Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City.

"Our militants detonated two bombs in two army jeeps in the vicinity of the University College in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, south of Gaza City," it said in a press statement.

The statement added that the militants clashed with the remaining soldiers with machine guns, killing and wounding some of them.

The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident.

Israeli state-owned Kan TV news reported that 11 Israeli soldiers were injured in a security incident in Gaza, but did not provide further details.

During the past 48 hours, the Israeli military has killed 69 people and wounded 136 others, bringing the total death toll to 40,074 and injuries to 92,537 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in early October 2023, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.