Israeli Strikes Kill 30 Palestinians, Including Children

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli attacks At least 30 Palestinians, including children, were killed on Saturday, a day after Israel accused Hamas of new ceasefire violations; this was the highest figure since the October ceasefire.

Officials at the hospitals that received the bodies said the attacks hit sites throughout Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis. Among the injured were two women and six children from two different families. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, said another airstrike hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people and wounding others.

The strike came a day ago Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border It will open in the southernmost city of Gaza. All border crossings in the region (the rest are in Israel) were closed for almost the entire war. Palestinians see Welfare as a lifeline for tens of thousands of people needing treatment outside the areawhere the vast majority of medical infrastructure was destroyed.

The opening of the initially limited crossing will take place as the US-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan moves into its second phase. Other thorny issues include the demilitarization of the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and the formation of a new government to oversee reconstruction.

Egypt, one of the mediators of the ceasefire, condemned the Israeli attacks “in the strongest terms” in its statement and warned that the ceasefire posed a “direct threat to the political course”. Other mediator Qatar, in its statement, described Israel’s attacks as a “dangerous escalation” and said that the continuation of the attacks poses a “direct threat” to the political process.

Nasser Hospital said an attack on the tent camp in Khan Younis caused a fire and killed seven people, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren.

Atallah Abu Hadaiyed said that he had just finished his prayer when the explosion occurred. “We came running and found my cousins ​​lying here and there, among the fires. We don’t know whether we are at war or at peace. Where is the ceasefire? Where is the ceasefire they are talking about?”, people said as they examined the ruins, which included a bloody mattress.

Şifa Hospital He said three children, their aunt and grandmother were killed in the apartment attack in Gaza City.

“The three girls are gone, may God have mercy on them. They were sleeping, we found them on the street,” said a relative named Samir El Atbas, adding that the family were civilians with no connection to Hamas. Names were written on body bags lined up against a wall.

Şifa Hospital said that at least 14 people, including four female police officers, civilians and prisoners, died in the attack on the police station. The hospital also said a man was killed in the attack on the eastern side of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Hamas called Saturday’s attacks a “renewed flagrant violation” and called on the United States and other mediating countries to force Israel to stop the attacks.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement to International organization proposed by the Trump administration He aimed to rule Gaza.

The Israeli army is hitting targets on both sides. dividing line of the ceasefireHe said his attacks since October were in response to violations of the agreement. The organization stated that Saturday’s attacks came after what it called two separate ceasefire violations that took place the day before. In these violations, Israeli forces killed three militants emerging from a tunnel in the Israeli-controlled area of ​​Rafah and four militants who approached troops near the separation line.

The number of deaths reported on Saturday was several times the daily average since the ceasefire began. As of Friday, the Gaza Ministry of Health recorded that at least 520 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Remains of the last hostage The injured in Gaza were rescued earlier this week.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.