Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 23, including children
AFP | Gaza City
Territories Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes and gunfire killed 23 people in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on Sunday, including at least three children.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that his services "transported 23 martyrs, including several children and women" killed in various locations around the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military told AFP it was not able to comment on the reported incidents but said it was fighting "to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" in a campaign launched to root out the Islamist militant group after its October 2023 attack on Israel.
Bassal said two children were killed in an air strike on their home in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood in the early morning, adding "the house was completely destroyed".
A family member, Abdel Rahman Azzam, 45, told AFP he was at home when he "heard a huge explosion at my relative's house".
"I rushed out in panic and saw the house destroyed and on fire," he added.
"We evacuated more than 20 injured people, including two martyrs -- two children from the family. The screams of children and women were non-stop," Azzam said.
"They bombed the house with a missile without any prior warning. This is a horrific crime. We sleep without knowing if we will wake up."
Elsewhere, Bassal said a drone strike on a tent housing displaced people near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed five people, including a child, while four more people were killed by Israeli gunfire in Rafah, also in the south.
Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
Israeli soldier killed
The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that a 20-year-old soldier was killed "during combat in the northern Gaza Strip".
The military had issued an evacuation order earlier in the d a y for parts of Gaza City and nearby areas in the territory's north.
The military "will operate with intense force in these areas, and these military operations will intensify and expand... to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations", military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X.
He told residents to "evacuate immediately" to the Al-Mawasi area on the southern coast.
The civil defence agency later said an Israeli air strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing three people.
AFP video footage filmed from southern Israel showed large plumes of smoke rising from northern Gaza.
House destroyed
A resident in the northern town of Jabalia, Ahmed Arar, 60, said his family's house was destroyed after they received a warning it would be bombed from a person identifying himself as an Israeli army officer.
"About half an hour later, they bombed the house, and it was completely destroyed," he told AFP by telephone.
He said the family had already evacuated the house several days ago due to repeated shelling and air strikes.
After claiming victory in a 12-day war against Iran that ended with a ceasefire on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it would refocus on its offensive in Gaza, where Palestinian militants still hold Israeli hostages.
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