At least 24 die as Israel launches fresh airstrikes against Hamas militants
Israel’s military on Saturday launched airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza in the latest test of the ceasefire that began on October 10.
Health officials in Gaza reported at least 24 people killed and another 54 wounded, including children.
The Israeli strikes came as international momentum was building on Gaza, with the UN Security Council on Monday approving the US blueprint to secure and govern the territory.
It authorises an international stabilisation force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.
69,733 The number of Palestinians believed to have died during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip
Israel has previously carried out similar waves of strikes after reported attacks on its forces.
At least 33 Palestinians were killed over a 12-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday, mostly women and children, health officials said.
One of Saturday’s strikes targeted a vehicle, killing 11 and wounding over 20 Palestinians in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, said Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
The majority of the wounded were children, director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said. A Associated Press video showed children and others inspecting the blackened vehicle, whose top was blown off.
Another strike targeting a house near Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza killed at least three people and wounded 11 others, according to the hospital.
It said a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least seven people including a child and wounded 16 others.
And a strike targeting a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed three people, including a woman, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital.
In separate statements, the Israeli military said soldiers killed five “terrorists” in the Rafah area, and two others after firing at four people who crossed into Israeli-held areas in northern Gaza and advanced toward soldiers in two separate incidents.
The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 69,733 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.
The toll has gone up during the ceasefire both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.
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