Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday killed at least nine Palestinians, health officials have said. Among the fatalities were five members of the same family, killed in separate attacks.
Details of the Strikes
According to medics in Gaza, Israeli aircraft launched pre-dawn strikes on four residential apartments, including the home of the affected family. A further 15 individuals were reported wounded in the assaults. The Israeli military has yet to issue a statement regarding the attacks.
Aftermath and Eyewitness Accounts
Footage from Reuters depicted a severely damaged building, with furniture burnt and debris scattered across the road following the blasts. An unverified video circulating on Palestinian social media showed individuals entering an apartment with blankets to retrieve bodies.
“We were woken up by the strike at 2:30 a.m. We found pieces of flesh and people were sleeping. They say the war is over but the war is not over,” Khalil Batran, a neighbour of the family who were killed, told Reuters. A girl was the only survivor of the attack on the family home, Gaza medics said.
“There is no safety in Gaza ... Every day they fire at us from there and strike us with missiles. It's futile,” Batran added.
Ceasefire Context
The ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli attacks and left Israel in control of more than half the enclave following the conflict that began with Hamas attacks on southern Israel in October 2023. Indirect talks on implementing the second phase of the deal, which includes Hamas' disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals, have stalled.
Claims and Casualties
Israel says its strikes are aimed at thwarting imminent attacks. It also says it allows aid and goods to flow into Gaza. Some 930 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce began, according to figures from Gaza health officials that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Hamas rarely publishes information about deaths among its fighters.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, Israel's military has said. More than 72,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war started, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel says it takes extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 251 Israeli and foreign hostages during its October 7, 2023, attacks on the country, Israel has said.
