Jerusalem: Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people late Tuesday, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
Five kids were killed as they sheltered together in the same tent, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the child ward at nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Their bodies were among eight children and five women brought to the hospital after strikes on tents, homes and a vehicle. Two bodies were unidentifiable.
The Israeli military said it targeted militants who had taken part in the October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, without providing evidence. Israel said it took steps to lessen the risk of hurting civilians and blamed Hamas for the civilian casualties.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, although there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope the war will end soon. Issam Saqr, a displaced man from Khan Younis, told The Associated Press he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!”
“What we are living is not a life. Nobody could bear the situation we’re experiencing for a single day,” said Munawar al-Bik, a displaced woman from Gaza City.
“We wake up at night to the sounds of men crying, because of the bad situation,” al-Bik said. “The situation is unbearable, we have no energy left, we want it to end today.”
She spoke to The Associated Press on a dusty road in the southern city of Khan Younis beside the rubble of a destroyed building. Behind her, a sea of makeshift tents filled with displaced families stretched into the distance.
Muhammad Zaqout, a displaced man from Gaza City, said he’s sick of children being killed daily, of the destruction and displacement.
In recent months, families who fled their homes in Gaza have had little access to clean water or enough food to eat, and they struggle to cope with harsh winter conditions that have killed several babies from hypothermia in recent weeks.
