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Strikes in Gaza Kill 4 Refugees 08/25 06:08
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian residents of war-battered Gaza
fled homes and businesses as Israeli strikes and tank fire killed at least four
people Monday, including two children, hospital officials said, a week after a
U.S. delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks.
After evacuation warnings by Israel's military, a strike hit a building in
the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. One family was unable to flee and a
4-year-old child was killed, according to Awda Hospital, where he was taken.
His mother and sister were wounded. There was no Israeli military comment.
Israeli strikes hit three other buildings across the territory after
residents said they received evacuation warnings. Some people sprinted away,
with mothers carrying children, while others moved amid the rubble in
wheelchairs or with canes.
Smoke rose over the already devastated landscape.
Israel's military said it carried out strikes in the Shati refugee camp in
Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, targeting what it
described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques. The military
did not provide evidence but said the facilities contained dozens of
"Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment."
An earlier Israeli strike on a tent in Deir al-Balah killed a man, according
to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where his body was taken. Israel's military said it killed
a militant affiliated with Hamas' special forces unit.
Others were killed or hurt in Khan Younis in the south
A man was killed and five others were wounded in an Israeli strike in Khan
Younis in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the
casualties.
And Israeli tank fire hit an area east of Khan Younis, killing a 10-year-old
girl, according to the hospital, where her body was taken.
Israel's military did not immediately comment on the strike in Khan Younis
and said it was not aware of the incident with the child.
Israel has continued to carry out targeted killings in the week since a U.S.
delegation met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to push last
year's ceasefire deal forward.
U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner asked Netanyahu to draw down Israel's attacks
in Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said last week, speaking on
condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists.
Israel has announced strikes on six of the seven days since that meeting.
Israel says it is targeting militants and related sites
While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since the ceasefire took
hold in October, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 1,288 Palestinians,
according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led
government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally
reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown
of civilians and militants.
Militants have carried out shooting attacks on Israeli troops, and Israel
says its strikes are in response to that and other ceasefire violations. Five
Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.
Palestinian officials have reported strikes on homes and police stations,
and Hamas has claimed that attacks are designed to destabilize Gaza and prevent
progress on the ceasefire's next steps, which include demilitarizing and
reconstructing the territory and the deployment of an international
stabilization force.
Israel warns against kites sent from Gaza
In the period before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel
that sparked the war, burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza into
Israel, causing fires and other damage.
Now Israeli officials are expressing concern after several kites were found
in a kibbutz near Gaza. No weapons or dangerous materials were attached.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement Sunday threatened to
ramp up strikes on Gaza unless Hamas ensures the kites stop flying toward
Israel.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has called the kites "essentially children's
toys" and accused Israel of using them as "an attempt to justify the
continuation of aggression and violations against our people."
The Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. All
hostages or their remains were later released. Israel's retaliatory offensive
in Gaza has killed more than 73,422 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health
ministry.
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