Dozens of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Thursday for funeral prayers for 10 people killed in Israeli strikes the night before, including five children and an elderly person, as well as a Hamas militant. More than 20 others were injured in the attacks, according to Shifa Hospital.
Video from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building, while bystanders rushed to carry wounded people, including children, to ambulances. Mohammed Shawish, who was wounded and lost his wife in the strikes, broke down in tears as he held her body at the hospital morgue, saying, “I married my wife for love. For God’s sake, I chose her because of love.”
The strikes took place on the first day of Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions worldwide. The Israeli military said it had launched strikes in northern Gaza targeting two Hamas militants. Among those killed was Hamas fighter Imad Isleim. On Thursday, mourners carried his body wrapped in a white shroud with a Hamas flag draped over it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel was expanding its control in Gaza. “Right now we are tightening the grip on Hamas,” he said at a conference in Jordan. “We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. You know that? We were at 50%, we moved to 60%.” He said the next step was to move to 70% control.
Across the Gaza Strip, 16 people were killed and 39 others wounded over the past 48 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said in an update on Thursday. Since a fragile ceasefire came into effect last October, 922 people have been killed in Gaza and 2,786 others injured, according to the ministry.
