Jerusalem: Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.
A strike on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 11 people, including five children as young as two, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Another four people were killed in a separate strike that hit a house in Deir al-Balah, it said.
Another strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya flattened a home and killed a family of seven, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A separate strike hit a group of people in an open area northwest of Gaza City, killing four people, including one who was planning to get married next week, the ministry said.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial move to dismiss the head of the country’s internal security agency.
Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime — while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.
Israel’s war in Gaza, now in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank who they said had thrown rocks at them and tried to stab them.
No Israeli soldiers were wounded in Tuesday’s incident, which occurred at a traffic junction near an Israeli settlement.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the woman as Amana Yacoub, 30, from the nearby town of Salfit.
There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Rights groups say Israeli forces often use lethal force when their lives are not in danger, while Israel says its troops have to make split-second decisions when operating in a dangerous environment.
A Palestinian photojournalist who was wounded in an Israeli strike on a media tent outside of a hospital has died.
Ahmed Mansour suffered severe burns in the strike early Monday, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The strike killed two other people, including another journalist, and wounded another five reporters.
The Israeli military said the target of the strike was a man it described as a Hamas militant posing as a journalist. He was among those who were wounded.
Israel’s Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to dismiss the head of the country’s internal security agency.
The hearing sets the stage for what will be the latest showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary. Any decision it makes is likely to deepen a rift in Israel over the power of the courts over elected lawmakers.
Critics say the decision to fire Ronen Bar is tainted by a conflict of interest because the internal security agency is investigating ties between Netanyahu’s office and the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Bar’s supporters say Netanyahu demanded loyalty from the head of an organisation that is meant to be apolitical.
Netanyahu says his decision came after a crisis of confidence in his domestic security chief surrounding Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.
