Israeli strikes kill at least 8 in Gaza, including 2 children, health officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza on Monday killed at least eight people, including two children, and wounded at least 20 others, according to health officials and emergency services. In Khan Younis, a strike hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi neighborhood after a warning call, killing a 23-year-old mother and her 1-year-old daughter west of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. Another strike on the town of Qarara, northwest of the city, earlier in the day killed a 31-year-old man, according to Nasser Hospital. The hospital said he had married only a few months ago and left behind a pregnant wife. In a separate incident in the same area, a strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people along the coastal area of Khan Younis, killing two people and wounding 13 others, according to Nasser hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The wounded were transferred to a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent in Al-Mawasi. In central Gaza, a drone strike hit a tent in Deir al-Balah, killing at least three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, medical officials said. Health authorities in the coastal enclave said the drone strike hit a neighborhood in Deir al-Balah, one of the least damaged towns in central Gaza. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the fatalities were Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man. Abu Shawish, whose parents are divorced, was visiting his mother’s tent at the time of the strike, and his mother was among seven people wounded in the strike, hospital officials said. Israel’s military said the strike was targeting a militant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed. A strike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed Zaher Abu Salem, the Israeli military said, describing him as a member of Islamic Jihad who was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. A total of four people were killed Sunday in a flurry of strikes around Gaza, including a 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, who was hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling and was buried Monday. While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel says it is targeting militants, often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks since the ceasefire. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Palestinian teen killed near Ramallah Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided locations throughout the occupied West Bank, including near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a 15-year-old from Jerusalem was killed by a gunshot to the head. Emergency crews transported Amir Jaber to the hospital from the al-Bireh area after attempting to resuscitate him at the scene, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. It also reported two injured by Israeli fire in a raid near Hebron, the West Bank’s most populous city. The Israeli military did not comment immediately. The raid near Ramallah — the Palestinians’ administrative capital in the West Bank — was among half a dozen reported across the territory Monday by WAFA, the Palestinian news agency. At least 59 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last week.