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Funeral hit in Nuseirat
Multiple Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Friday, including more than half in a drone strike on a funeral procession, according to Al Jazeera.
“Multiple Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 Palestinians, more than half of them in a drone strike on a funeral procession”
Al Jazeera reported that the drone targeted Palestinian mourners gathered outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque in the Al-Balata market area of Nuseirat refugee camp as they waited to begin a funeral procession for a Palestinian killed in an earlier attack in the same area.
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the strike and said it was aware of claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed, with the results of the strike under review.
In the same reporting, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said, "There is no regard for the ceasefire," as the people participating in the procession were coming out of the mosque when the drone strike targeted a group within it.
Competing death tolls
Different outlets and local reporting put the funeral-casualty figures in different ranges, with The Business Standard saying an Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 20 attending a funeral in Nuseirat.
The Business Standard also said that those deaths, along with at least three Palestinians killed in separate Israeli airstrikes elsewhere in the enclave, brought Friday's toll to at least 12, medics said.
Hamas condemned the Nuseirat strike as a "brutal massacre" against mourners and urged mediators and the United Nations to act to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza, while the Israeli military said it was checking a Reuters request for comment.
In a separate report, DW said Gaza’s civil defense agency reported, "Eight people were killed after Israeli warplanes struck a gathering of civilians" in the Al-Balata market area of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Ceasefire violations and escalation
The attacks came nine months into Israel’s so-called “ceasefire” with Hamas, with Al Jazeera saying Israel continues to violate it on a near-daily basis.
Al Jazeera cited ACLED reporting that Israeli attacks on the enclave have increased since May, saying there were more than 40 strikes last month, the highest monthly total since the “ceasefire” began.
The Business Standard added that residents in an area east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip said Israeli forces used drones to broadcast audio messages ordering them to leave their homes, forcing some families to flee for safety.
In the same Business Standard account, Hamas condemned the Nuseirat strike as a "brutal massacre" and urged mediators and the United Nations to act to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza, as the truce halted major fighting but "has not stopped near-daily Israeli strikes."
