Israeli strikes kill 20 in Gaza

At least 20 Palestinians, including several children and a paramedic, have been killed and almost 40 others wounded in Israeli strikes in Gaza, hospitals say.

The Israeli military said tanks and aircraft carried out “precise strikes” against what it called “terrorists” who opened fire on troops in the north of the strip, seriously wounding an officer.

It added that the attack happened close to the Yellow Line, beyond which Israeli forces are stationed in Gaza, and that it constituted a “blatant violation” of the three-month-old ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Hamas accused Israel of using the shooting as “a flimsy pretext to justify the continuation of killing and aggression against our people”.

Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it had received the bodies of 13 people, including five children, who were killed when tents for displaced families and homes in the eastern Zeitoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods were hit.

Among the mourners gathered in the hospital’s courtyard for funeral prayers was Abu Mohammed Haboush, who said his family was asleep in their home when it was shelled.

“Our children were martyred - my son was martyred, my brother’s son and daughter were martyred,” he told Reuters news agency.

“We have nothing to do with anything, we are peaceful people.”

Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Younis said four dead, including one child, were brought there following strikes on tents in the southern Qizan Rashwan area.

Another two children, sisters Rahaf and Remas Abu Jamea, and paramedic Hussein al-Samiri were later killed in the coastal al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, hospital officials said.

A first responder from the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Jihad al-Hinnawi, told Reuters that the paramedic had rushed to help victims of a strike on a tent in the coastal al-Mawasi area and was then killed by a second strike on the same location.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said separately that Samiri was killed “while carrying out his humanitarian duty in Khan Younis”. It also accused the Israeli military of a “grave violation” of international humanitarian law, which protects medical personnel.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “appalled” to learn of Samiri’s killing and stressed that it was “unacceptable that first responders in Gaza continue to face risk to their lives while carrying out humanitarian mission”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike in al-Mawasi targeted a platoon commander of the elite Nukhba forces of Hamas’s military wing, whom it named as Bilal Abu Assi. It alleged that he had led the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October 2023 and “likely took part in holding deceased hostages captive throughout the war”.

“The IDF is aware of the claim that several uninvolved civilians, including a medical staff member, were hit in the strike. Prior to and during the strike, steps were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians,” it added.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of near-daily violations since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October.

On Sunday, more than 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza. The IDF said its forces launched those strikes after gunmen emerged from a tunnel in the southern Rafah area, beyond the Yellow Line.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 556 people have been killed by Israeli fire, while the Israeli military has said four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 71,820 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Source: BBC

- Agencies