Israeli Strike Kills At Least Six People During Wedding in Gaza City

An Israeli strike hit a wedding tent in Gaza City on Saturday, killing at least six people, according to local medical sources cited by Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud.

“Muhannad's wedding invitation The Israeli strike that targeted a tent sheltering displaced families near the Al-Rimal Boys’ Preparatory School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City killed seven civilians, including two women, and wounded at least 15 others, mostly children”

Ahram Online

Mahmoud said several projectiles exploded near a wedding tent and that the targeted tent was next door to the wedding tent, with shrapnel flying into a displacement site school next door that was packed with displaced families.

Ahram Online

A source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera reporters on the ground that at least 15 people were injured in the attack, with many being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The attack came amid continued Israeli violations of the so-called “ceasefire” agreement that took effect on October 10, and Mahmoud said the casualty toll was expected to rise.

Hamas spokesperson Hazam Qassem condemned the “horrific massacre” as part of Israel’s “continued escalation of its war of extermination against civilians.”

Middle East Eye said the death toll from Israel’s attack on a tent camp in Gaza City had risen to eight, and it reported that more than a dozen people were wounded in the Israeli air strike.

Al Jazeera, citing Gaza’s Civil Defence, said at least seven people were killed in an Israeli air attack on a Gaza City tent camp, and it reported that at least 15 people were injured.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described the Israeli drone strikes causing “a huge explosion” and “a state of panic” at the United Nations school compound housing displaced people.

Mahmoud said the attack targeted a tent next to another tent and that there seemed to be a wedding going on at that moment, adding that people ran out of the displacement site into the streets where civilian vehicles were deployed right away.

The Israeli army told AFP it had “targeted terrorists in that sector”, without elaborating, while Hamas’s Qassem accused Israel of “working to undermine and destroy the agreement” after the Gaza City attack.

The Al Jazeera report said Hamas convened for meetings with mediators and other Palestinian factions in Egypt to discuss the future of the enclave amid the beleaguered ceasefire process.

“At least seven people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on a Gaza City tent camp housing displaced people, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence”

Al Jazeera

It said Hamas’s Qassem told that weekend’s meetings in Cairo would focus on ensuring the full implementation of the first phase of the agreement, including ending what he described as Israeli violations, reopening border crossings and allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera also reported that the discussions would address issues related to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, including proposals concerning the deployment of international forces in Gaza and the disarmament of Palestinian factions.

In a separate account, İlke Haber Ajansı said six Palestinian civilians, including two women, were killed and at least 15 others injured on Saturday evening after an Israeli airstrike targeted a tent sheltering displaced families in western Gaza City near Al-Rimal Boys’ Preparatory School.

İlke Haber Ajansı further stated that since the ceasefire entered into force, 951 Palestinians have been killed and 2,984 injured in incidents across the Gaza Strip, and it said rescue and recovery teams had retrieved 782 bodies from areas previously inaccessible due to extensive destruction.