Israeli Airstrikes Result in Deaths of 11 Palestinians in Gaza, According to Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip have resulted in the deaths of at least 11 Palestinians, as reported by health officials in the region on Sunday. Israeli aircraft targeted multiple locations in the northern, central, and southern parts of Gaza.

Among the affected sites was a school in Beit Lahiya that was sheltering displaced Palestinians. According to medics, the strike resulted in four fatalities and numerous injuries.

The Israeli military stated that the attack aimed at Hamas militants who were utilizing a command center located in a building that had formerly been used as the Um Al-Fahm School. They accused Hamas of using civilian structures and the population for military purposes, a claim that Hamas has denied.

In another incident, three individuals were killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza City. Additionally, four more were reported dead from three separate strikes in the Nuseirat and Khan Younis areas, located in central and southern Gaza.

Israeli forces also continued operations in Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, and in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, where several houses were reportedly destroyed, according to local residents and Hamas media.

On Sunday, the Israeli military reiterated that it is engaged in a “multi-front war” and is conducting operations in Gaza to secure the return of Israeli and foreign hostages and to dismantle Hamas.

The military reported discovering and destroying an underground tunnel that spans approximately 1 kilometer near residential areas in central Gaza. They claimed to find several rooms and equipment associated with Hamas’s activities.

Military actions in Gaza have reportedly decreased over the past week as Israel intensified its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, leading to the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on Friday. This information was confirmed by the group on Saturday.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of approximately 41,500 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

The hostilities between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when militants from Hamas entered southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, as per Israeli reports.