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Funeral strike in Nuseirat
An Israeli airstrike hit a funeral in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, killing at least eight Palestinians and wounding 20, according to Gaza health officials, after an earlier Israeli strike earlier in the day killed a person being mourned.
The 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, and Hamas condemned the Nuseirat strike as a "brutal massacre" against mourners.
In the same period, 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.
The Business Standard said the deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants took effect, while the BBC said the Israeli strike killed at least eight and wounded 20 at the funeral in the central Gaza Strip.
The Arab Weekly reported that the Israeli military said it struck a cell belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group, which holds sway in parts of the enclave along with Hamas, and said it was "aware of the claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike."
Condemnations and competing counts
Hamas urged mediators and the United Nations to act to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza, and it condemned the Nuseirat strike as a "brutal massacre" against mourners, while the Israeli military said it was checking a Reuters request for comment but did not immediately provide one.
Al Jazeera’s reporting put the funeral toll higher, saying "Eight people were killed" when an Israeli strike targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Balata market area of Nuseirat refugee camp, with at least 20 others injured, and it quoted Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud saying, "There is no regard for the ceasefire."
The AP and Daily Sabah accounts also differed on the funeral numbers, with the AP saying the strike killed at least seven and wounded 22, and Daily Sabah saying an Israeli airstrike on a funeral killed at least seven and wounded 22 while separate attacks left five others dead.
The Israeli military’s stated target also varied across outlets, with the AP saying it targeted a "terrorist cell" belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group and Daily Sabah saying it targeted a base belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
In the same reporting stream, the Palestinian Hamas militant group called the strike "a heinous crime," while the Israeli military said it was aware civilians may have been harmed in the strike and that the results were under review.
Ceasefire strain and wider toll
The Business Standard said the truce halted major fighting but has not stopped near-daily Israeli strikes, and it reported that conflict monitor ACLED said Israeli airstrikes against Hamas and other militants rose to more than 40 in June, the highest monthly total since the ceasefire.
“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”
Daily Sabah said the heaviest fighting has subsided but at least 1,123 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory's Health Ministry, and it added that women and children account for most of the dead.
The Business Standard also said the war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, while Gaza health officials said Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.
In parallel, the AP said Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal in October aimed at halting a two-year-long war, and it reported that at least 1,123 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
The Business Standard described the humanitarian setting as nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people living on a tiny strip of land along the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, under Hamas control, as Israeli strikes continued to hit people near the line dividing the two sides and ACLED said other strikes killed and injured civilians including women and children.
