Share and Follow
IN BRIEF
- The airstrike hit a tent encampment of displaced families in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
- A ceasefire, brokered by US President Donald Trump last year, has failed to halt Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
An overnight Israeli airstrike targeting a tent in the southern Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of two individuals, including a young girl aged six, and left 17 others injured, according to Palestinian health officials. Among the injured were several other children.
Medical personnel reported that the strike hit a tent encampment housing displaced families in Khan Younis’ Mawasi area. The victims included six-year-old Mennatallah Abu Libda and a 31-year-old woman, identified as Hanan Mahmoud.
Eyewitnesses noted that the assault was executed using two helicopters.
The Israeli military informed Reuters that the operation targeted militants, though they did not provide additional details.
Grieving relatives gathered at the hospital to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones.
Men and women who were related to the dead girl wept beside her white-shrouded body.
“This little girl, a little bird from the birds of paradise, was playing at the door of her home,” said the dead girl’s grandmother Soheir Abu Libda.
‘There is no ceasefire’
An October ceasefire, brokered by United States President Donald Trump, has failed to halt Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the deal, which includes the militant group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
The ceasefire left Israel in control of more than half of the enclave, with Hamas controlling a sliver of territory along the coast.
About 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce came into effect, according to figures from Gaza health officials.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, the country’s military has said.
“There is no ceasefire, nothing at all. It’s all just deceiving people, nothing more and nothing less,” said Khader Abu Libda, a relative of the dead girl, during the funeral procession.
Israel escalates attack in Lebanon
Meanwhile, the Israeli army intensified strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday (local time), as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in Lebanon in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah.
The airstrikes come as the US and Iran seek to finalise the terms of an agreement to end the Middle East conflict, which could include the Lebanon front, where Israel and Hezbollah have waged war since 2 March.
Despite a ceasefire that came into effect on 17 April, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire on a near-daily basis.
“I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel.
Following the call for escalation, residents fled the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli air force carried out successive strikes in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon on Monday evening, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
Dozens of Israeli strikes earlier targeted several towns and villages in southern Lebanon in the early hours, killing three people in two cars and on a motorcycle, NNA reported.
Israeli airstrikes then targeted several towns near the ancient city of Tyre, according to the news agency.
According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes since early March have killed more than 3,100 people.
The Israeli military also announced on Monday that a soldier had been killed the previous day in southern Lebanon.
That brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the outbreak of hostilities with Hezbollah to 23. One civilian contractor has also been killed.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.