CAIRO: Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate airstrikes on Gaza City early on Tuesday, health officials said, while tanks deepened their incursion into the town of Rafah in the south of the enclave.
Two of the strikes hit two schools in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people, medics said. Another strike on a house in the Shati (Beach) camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 10 others.
The house in Shati belonged to the extended family of Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, killing one of his sisters along with other relatives too, family members and medics said.
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Haniyeh, who leads Hamas’ diplomacy and is the public face of the group that has been running Gaza, has lost many of his relatives in Israeli air strikes since Oct. 7, including three of his sons.
Israel’s military claimed its forces had targeted fighters group overnight in Gaza City who had been involved in the planning of attacks on Israel.
The Israeli Air Force struck two structures “used by Hamas terrorists in Shati and Daraj Tuffah in the northern Gaza Strip.
The terrorists operated inside school compounds that were used by Hamas as a shield for its terrorist activities“, the military statement said.
Hamas denies using civilian facilities such as schools and hospitals for military purposes.
More than eight months into the fighting, international mediation backed by the United States has so far failed to bring a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas says any agreement must bring an end to the war, while Israel says it will agree only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
Shortages of medicine
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