Israeli forces battled Hamas-led fighters in several parts of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Palestinian health officials said at least 57 people were killed in Israeli bombardments of southern and central areas.
Hamas has accused Israel of stepping up attacks in Gaza to try to derail efforts by Arab mediators and the US to reach a ceasefire deal. Israel says it is trying to root out Hamas fighters.
In Rafah, a southern border city where Israeli forces have been operating since May, five Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a house, Gaza health officials said. In nearby Khan Younis a man, his wife and two children were killed, they said.
Later on Tuesday an Israeli air strike on a car killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded 26 others in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the officials said.
The air strike hit near a tented area housing displaced families in Attar Street in the humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi, the health ministry said. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior militant of the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas. “We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike,” the military statement said.
Footage from Reuters news agency showed residents carrying bodies of the dead and wounded on donkey carts and in rickshaws to hospitals.
“The car was targeted, the blood was splashing, and shrapnel hit our tents and martyrs were left on the street. We screamed: ‘We need an ambulance’. We put [the casualties] on carts and rickshaws and the ambulance came after a while,” said eyewitness Tahrir Matir, who lives in a tent nearby.
In the historic Nuseirat camp in central Gaza at least four Palestinians were killed in separate shelling and aerial strikes in central Gaza, medics said. An Israeli air strike killed four in Sheikh Zayed in northern Gaza, they said.
Hours later an Israeli air strike on a UN-run school that housed displaced families in the Nuseirat camp killed 23 people and wounded many others, health officials said. Among those killed was local journalist Mohammad Meshmesh, taking the number of journalists killed in the conflict to 160, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.
The Israeli military said in a statement it attacked a group of “terrorists” who had operated from inside the school after taking steps to mitigate the risk to civilians.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage in an attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7th, according to Israeli tallies. At least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities said in their latest update on Tuesday. Israel also says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
Relatives visited Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza to say farewell to relatives before funerals.
“We’re exhausted, we’re devastated, we are extremely tired, our patience is over,” said elderly Palestinian Sahar Abu Emeira. “Whether Hamas or the others [Israel] they need to agree as soon as possible.”
Efforts to end the conflict stalled on Saturday after three days of negotiations failed to produce a viable outcome, Egyptian security sources said, and after an Israeli strike targeting Hamas’ top military chief Mohammed Deif. The attack killed more than 90 people in the Khan Younis area, according to Gaza health authorities. – Reuters