Displaced Palestinians wait to receive aid from World Food Program USA on Thursday. Starvation is intensifying amid more Israeli airstrikes against Hamas on the Gaza Strip. Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE
Dozens of Palestinians died in several rounds of Israeli airstrikes from Friday night until Saturday morning, officials said.
At least 44 people died in the Gaza Strip since dawn, hospital sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. The Guardian reported at least 62 people died in overnight strikes.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by the Iran-funded militant group Hamas, said 81 people have died and 422 were wounded over 24 hours.
Al Jazeera reported an airstrike in a residential building in Gaza City killed at least 20 Palestinians, including nine children.
“We were sitting peacefully when we received a call from a private number telling us to evacuate the entire block immediately — a residential area belonging to the al-Nakhalah family. As you can see, the whole block is nearly wiped out,” Mahmoud al-Nakhala told Al Jazeera.
“We still don’t know why two, three-story homes were targeted … It’s heartbreaking that people watch what’s happening in Gaza — the suffering, the massacres — and stay silent. At this point, we can’t even comprehend what’s happening here anymore,” he added.
Rescuers were working to remove victims from under rubble. Those hurt were taken to al-Ahli Hospital, which is lacking medical resources.
There were also drone strikes elsewhere on Gaza Strip, including in the city of Khan Younis and the Bureij refugee camp.
The Guardian reported that a dozen people were killed near a displacement camp near Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, after which a nearby airstrike nearby killed at least 11 people and a family sleeping in a tent was reported to have died in a strike in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.
At least 56,412 Palestinians have been killed 133,054 wounded since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Hamas’ attack on Israel that day killed approximately 1,200 people and 251 hostages were taken.
President Donald Trump on Friday said there could be a cease-fire agreement “within the next week” despite no signs of negotiations underway.
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza have worsened since Israel resumed airstrikes on March 18 after a cease-fire that ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Unicef said last week that 60% of water production facilities in Gaza weren’t working and acute child malnutrition increased 51% from April to May.
In a separate strike in southern Lebanon on Friday, Israel Defense Forces killed Hezbollah terrorist Hassan Muhammad Hammoudi, the military told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday night.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of continually violating the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal.
