Pople react during a farewell for Palestinian Ahmed Khalil killed in an Israeli airstrike, at his home, in the Balata refugee camp, in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike in the early hours of Saturday(August 17, 2024) killed 15 people from a Palestinian family, including nine children and three women.

The strike hit the home of the Ajlah family in Al-Zawaida neighbourhood of central Gaza, said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal. The Israeli military did not offer an immediate comment.

“The toll from the Israeli strike on the Ajlah family home and their warehouse in Al-Zawaida is 15 dead,” Mr. Bassal said.

Mr. Bassal gave a list of those killed, including nine children and three women.

A witness said the strike took place shortly after midnight.

“Three rockets hit the house directly,” Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul said as rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble of the flattened house.

“There were a lot of children and women inside… What have they done to deserve this?”

AFPTV footage of the aftermath, captured after dawn, showed rescuers searching for bodies under piles of collapsed concrete blocks.

More than 10 months of war between Israel and Hamas has left vast swathes of Gaza in ruins.

The war broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 people during the attack, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 40,005 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.

As Israel’s deadline for Palestinians to evacuate the Gaza strip is approaching, thousands of Gazans are fleeing their homes fearing the deadliest ground offensive they have ever witnessed in their lives. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s week-long retaliation against Hamas’ “surprise” attack last week was “just the beginning”. Over a million Gazans face a 24 hours deadline on Friday to flee to the south even as many chose to stay back as Hamas has vowed to dug its heels in and fight “to the last drop of blood”. Ahead of the deadline ending, Israeli forces made “localised” raids in Gaza in the last 24 hours “to cleanse the area of terrorists” and try to find “missing persons”.
 

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Israel-Hamas War Day 8: At UN, Russia Calls For “Humanitarian Cease-Fire” In Gaza Strip

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations called for a “humanitarian cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday, while blaming the United States for the ongoing conflict. The Russian draft resolution, presented to the Security Council, calls for an “immediate” ceasefire and the secure release of all hostages, and “strongly condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.”