An Israeli airstrike flattened a three-storey home in Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 people — half of them children — as Arab mediators scrambled to restart a ceasefire.
Israeli strikes killed at least 49 people in the past 24 hours, according to health officials.
The dead in the early-morning airstrike in a neighbourhood in western Gaza City included three women and five children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel’s military said it had struck a Hamas militant and that the structure where he operated collapsed, adding that the collapse was under review.
“There is no one from the resistance among them,” said Saed Al-Khour, who lost his family in the strike. “Since 1 o’clock until now, we have been pulling out the remains of children, women and elderly people.” He stood amid the rubble, under a tilted ceiling.
Prof. Adi Ben-Nun says ‘everything is destroyed’ in the perimeter that the report by Breaking the Silence says is being created between Gaza and Israel.
Three other people were killed in the Shati refugee camp along Gaza City’s shoreline.
Hamas said on Saturday that it had sent a high-level delegation to Cairo to try to get the ceasefire — shattered last month by Israeli bombardment — back on track.
Israel has vowed to continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It says it will hold parts of Gaza indefinitely and implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for the resettlement of the population in other countries, which has been widely rejected internationally.
Hamas has said that it will only release the dozens of hostages it holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January.
An Israeli airstrike has destroyed part of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City. Witnesses said the strike destroyed the intensive care department of the hospital.
Hamas said that its delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the group’s vision to end the war, which also includes reconstruction.
Earlier this week, other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo to discuss a proposal that would include a five-to-seven-year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said.
Egypt and Qatar are developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
Israeli blockade continues
Israel has continued its nearly two-month blockade of Gaza, even as aid groups warn that supplies are dwindling.
On Friday, the United Nations World Food Program said that its food stocks in Gaza had run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It said the dozens of charity kitchens it supports are expected to run out of food in the coming days.
About 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of more than two million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN.
Nearly one month after Israel imposed a complete blockade on goods entering Gaza, families fasting for the holy month of Ramadan say finding food has been a struggle amid dwindling supplies and soaring prices.
“Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 UNRWA trucks of lifesaving aid are ready to enter Gaza,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on social media. “The siege must stop.”
Hamas on Saturday called on the Trump administration to immediately reverse its decision that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees isn’t immune from being sued, calling it a dangerous step by Israel’s close ally.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel says it has killed about 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The militants still have 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
