In Brief
- Medics in Gaza said Israeli planes launched strikes on four apartments, killing nine people.
- Israel says its strikes are aimed at thwarting imminent attacks.
At least nine Palestinians lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, including five members of a single family, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip.
Local medical teams reported that Israeli aircraft targeted four separate apartments, including the family’s residence, in pre-dawn raids. The strikes also left at least 15 individuals injured.
The Israeli military has yet to issue a statement regarding these attacks.
Footage captured by Reuters depicted a building severely damaged, with furniture charred and debris scattered across the street, a testament to the explosion’s force.
A video circulating on Palestinian social media, which Reuters has not yet been able to authenticate, shows individuals entering an apartment with blankets to retrieve bodies.
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“We were woken up by the strike at 2.30am. We found pieces of flesh and people were sleeping. They say the war is over but the war is not over,” Khalil Batran, a neighbour of the family who were killed, told Reuters.
A girl was the only survivor of the attack on the family home, Gaza medics said.
“There is no safety in Gaza … Every day they fire at us from there and strike us with missiles. It’s futile,” Batran added.
Negotiations stalled
The ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli attacks and left Israel in control of more than half the enclave following the conflict that began with Hamas attacks on southern Israel in October 2023.
Indirect talks on implementing the second phase of the deal, which includes Hamas’ disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals, have stalled.
Israel says its strikes are aimed at thwarting imminent attacks. It also says it allows aid and goods to flow into Gaza.
Some 930 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce began, according to figures from Gaza health officials that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Hamas rarely publishes information about deaths among its fighters.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, Israel’s military has said.
More than 72,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war started, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel says it takes extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 251 Israeli and foreign hostages during its October 7, 2023, attacks on the country, Israel has said.
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