Israeli missile hits Gaza children collecting water, IDF blames malfunction
The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of metres from the target".
"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.
The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.
Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centres where they can fill up their plastic containers.
Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.
Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally, but says over half of those killed are women and children.
TALKS STALLED
Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.
The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.
Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands, releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.
The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive.
Netanyahu and his ministers were also set to discuss a plan on Sunday to move hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the southern area of Rafah, in what Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has described as a new "humanitarian city" but which would be likely to draw international criticism for forced displacement.
An Israeli source briefed on discussions in Israel said that the plan was to establish the complex in Rafah during the ceasefire, if it is reached.
On Saturday, a Palestinian source familiar with the truce talks, said that Hamas rejected withdrawal maps which Israel proposed, because they would leave around 40% of the territory under Israeli control, including all of Rafah.
Israel's campaign against Hamas has displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, but Gazans say nowhere is safe in the coastal enclave.
Early on Sunday morning, a missile hit a house in Gaza City where a family had moved to after receiving an evacuation order from their home in the southern outskirts.
"My aunt, her husband and the children, are gone. What is the fault of the children who died in an ugly bloody massacre at dawn?" said Anas Matar, standing in the rubble of the building.
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CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Israel PM voices regret after three killed at Catholic church in Gaza
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Straits Times
9 hours ago
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Mediators present updated Gaza ceasefire proposal to Israel and Hamas, Axios reports
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CNA
9 hours ago
- CNA
Trump presses Netanyahu over Gaza church strike, White House says reaction ‘not positive'
GAZA CITY: An Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church killed three people on Thursday (July 17), the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as the White House said US President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the incident and that his reaction 'was not positive.' The Patriarchate condemned "this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place," saying two women and one man had died in the attack on the Holy Family Church. Pope Leo XIV said he was "deeply saddened" by the attack, which came as Gaza's civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory killed at least 20 people. "With deep sorrow, the Latin Patriarchate can now confirm that three people were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning," it said in a statement. "We pray for the rest of their souls and for the end of this barbaric war. 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"Targeting a holy site currently sheltering approximately 600 displaced persons, the majority of whom are children and 54 with special needs, is a flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sites, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war," it said. "This horrific war must come to a complete end," the statement added, saying the victims had turned to the compound after "their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away." Israel expressed "deep sorrow" over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating. "Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians," the foreign ministry said on X. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. "The results of the investigation will be published," it said. "It was not a positive reaction," a White House spokeswoman said at a press briefing. "He called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to address the strikes on that church in Gaza." "And I understand the prime minister agreed to put out a statement. It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic Church. That's what the prime minister relayed to the president," she added. A State Department spokeswoman added, "I think it's an understatement to say that he (Trump) was not happy." The department said Washington had asked Israel to carry out a formal investigation. Netanyahu later said Israel "deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church." Israeli forces killed at least 27 people in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including the three killed in the church strike, according to medics and church officials. "SERIOUS ACT" Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said attacks on civilians in Gaza were "unacceptable" while her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the church attack "a serious act against a Christian place of worship". "The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude," Meloni added. Out of the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory. Since the early days of the war, which erupted in October 2023, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at the Holy Family Compound in Gaza City, where some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge. Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war and in his final Easter message, a day before his death on Apr 21, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territory. In a telegram for the victims, Pope Leo said he was "deeply saddened" and called for "an immediate ceasefire." The pope expressed his "profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region," according to the telegram which was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and made no mention of Israel. "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE" Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l'Oeuvre d'Orient, told AFP the raid was "totally unacceptable". "It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population," he said. "There was no strategic objective, there were no jihadists in this church. There were families, there were civilians. This is totally unacceptable and we condemn in the strongest possible terms this attitude on the part of Israel." More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza's population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials. The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 58,573 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
