Gaza: At least 26 members of a family were killed, and six houses on that street were reduced to rubble by an Israeli attack in Gaza’s north, according to witness testimony.
The bombardment came as a surprise – life had slowly been returning to normal with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the north of Gaza.
On Sunday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 35,456 people have been killed in the territory during more than seven months of war between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group.
The toll includes 70 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 79,476 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was targeting Israeli forces stationed at Rafah crossing — a vital conduit for humanitarian aid that is now closed — with mortar fire.
Israel has also fought and bombed resurgent Hamas forces in northern and central areas of the coastal territory previously considered to be under army control, sparking US warnings that it could become mired in a lengthy counterinsurgency campaign.
In the latest aerial bombardment overnight, Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike had killed 31 people and wounded 20 in a home in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel’s military, which on Sunday reported its aircraft had “struck dozens of terror targets” over the past 24 hours, said it was checking the reports.