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Funeral strike in Nuseirat
An Israeli strike hit a funeral in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least seven people and wounding 22, according to a local hospital in Nuseirat on Friday.
The Globe and Mail said the strike killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 20 attending a funeral in Nuseirat, and it described the funeral as being held on Friday for a person killed by another Israeli strike earlier in the day.
The Israeli military said it targeted a “terrorist cell” belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group and said it was “aware of the claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike.”
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.
The Globe and Mail also said Friday’s toll reached at least 12 after at least three Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli air strikes elsewhere in the enclave, according to Gaza health officials.
Ceasefire violations and drone
Al Jazeera reported that more than half of the at least 14 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks were killed in a drone strike on a funeral procession, and it said the drone targeted Palestinian mourners gathered outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said, “There is no regard for the ceasefire,” and he added that “The people who were participating in the [funeral] procession were coming out of the mosque [when] a drone strike targeted a group of people within the procession itself.”
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the strike and claimed it had struck a “terrorist” cell in central Gaza, while adding it was “aware of the claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike.”
Hamas condemned the strike, saying, “This heinous crime takes place while the aggressor regime, through its systematic and continuous violation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, continues to kill and terrorise innocent citizens in front of the eyes of mediators and the international community,”
The Globe and Mail said residents east of Deir al-Balah reported Israeli forces used drones to broadcast audio messages ordering them to leave their homes, forcing some families to flee for safety.
Casualty totals and next risks
The Globe and Mail said deaths from the Nuseirat strike added to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, according to Gaza health officials.
“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”
The Ottumwa Courier, citing local officials, said other attacks in the embattled coastal territory left five more dead, while the Israeli military said it was aware that civilians may have been harmed in the strike.
The Globe and Mail also said conflict monitor ACLED reported Israeli air strikes against Hamas and other militants rose to more than 40 in June, the highest monthly total since the ceasefire.
In parallel, Anadolu Ajansı said Gaza authorities put the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn Friday at 13 and at 25 over the past 72 hours, and it said Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp received the bodies of eight people and treated 20 injured.
Le Monde reported that Friday’s deaths brought the total to more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in October, and it said the Israeli army reported six deaths among its ranks since that date.
