Israeli strikes kill 10 in Gaza; Women and children among dead
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians, including women and children, according to local hospitals. Nine deaths occurred in overnight strikes on Gaza City, while another strike killed one person later in the day.
Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip): Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians on Thursday, local hospitals said, even as much of the world’s attention was focused on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Nine people were killed in at least four separate strikes overnight in Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. The hospital said the victims included two women and two children.
Another strike in Gaza City on Thursday evening killed at least one person and wounded another, according to Saraya Field Hospital, which is operated by the Red Crescent.
Footage of one of the strikes showed a massive hole in an upper floor in what appeared to be a residential apartment building. The blast blew holes through interior walls and scattered blood-stained belongings across the room and into the street.
“They say the war has stopped, but the war has not stopped,” said Walid Shbeir, the uncle of one of the men killed in the strikes, as relatives mourned the victims at Shifa Hospital. “Every night there is killing, and we have martyrs. Every night, in the morning, in the evening, and at night, this killing is continuous for us.”
Israel’s military said the overnight strikes in northern Gaza killed four Hamas militants, which it described as senior members of an apparatus responsible for protecting Hamas leaders and providing them with intelligence assessments. The military said steps were taken before the strikes to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
It was not clear what the evening strike was targeting, and the military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on it.
Last week, Israel killed the top Hamas military leader, two weeks after strikes that killed his predecessor.
More than 900 Palestinians killed since ceasefire began
The fatalities were the latest in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the fragile ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.
Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently opened fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing 936 people since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, is generally seen as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to violations of the truce or threats to its troops. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 2023 attack that killed some 1,200 people, with 251 others taken hostage.
