Gaza’s civil defence agency said yesterday that an overnight Israeli strike on the Khan Younis refugee camp killed at least 11 people, including three babies up to a year old.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported 11 killed “after the bombardment of the Al Bayram family home in the Khan Younis camp” in southern Gaza at around 3am.
Bassal said that eight of the dead had been identified and were all from the same extended family, including a boy and girl, both one-year-olds, and a month-old baby.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the strike, saying the attack targeted a “Hamas member,” without giving further details.
At the scene, rescue workers and residents searched through the rubble with their bare hands, illuminating the destruction with hand-held torches.
One rescuer carried the lifeless body of an infant from the wreckage.
Fayka Abu Hatab, a resident in a nearby building, said she “saw a bright light, then there was an explosion, and dust covered the entire area.”
“We couldn’t see anything, it all went dark,” Abu Hatab said.
“All of our windows were destroyed, our rooms were destroyed, the neighbours’ house was destroyed,” she added.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian fighter group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The health ministry in Gaza said yesterday that at least 2,396 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,495.
On Friday the civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 42 people across the war-ravaged territory, which has been under a total Israeli blockade since March 2.
Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza, saying Hamas had diverted supplies. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure the fighters into releasing hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
UN agencies have urged Israel to lift restrictions, saying that Gazans were experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and warning of famine.
The US, Israel and representatives of a new international foundation are close to an agreement on how to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza without it being controlled by Hamas, Axios reported on Friday, citing two Israeli officials and one US source.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza City Olga Cherevko has warned of the alarming situation in the besieged enclave.
She stated that children in Gaza are searching through piles of garbage for scraps of food and fuel. She called for an end to the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid supplies to the Gaza Strip.
In a video briefing to journalists, Cherevko described the catastrophic conditions in Gaza, where malnourished children can be seen in the streets. “Out of sheer desperation, residents rush toward trucks they believe might be carrying water or food,” she said.
“The international community is facing two choices: either to continue watching the horrifying images of Gaza choking and starving, or summon the courage and moral boldness to make decisions that will break this merciless blockade,” she said.
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