Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill at least 27

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed at least 27 Palestinians, including six near a water distribution point.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight people “including children and women” and wounding others.

An Israeli air strike hit a family home near Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in “10 martyrs and several injured”, Bassal said.

Another strike “hit a potable water distribution point… in an area for displaced people west of the Nuseirat camp”, Bassal added, reporting “six martyrs and several injured”.

Gaza civil defence says 52 killed by Israeli forces

In the territory’s south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defence spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.