Over 20 killed in Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to relief efforts

The Civil Defense in Gaza announced Sunday the death of 23 people, including children, in strikes or gunfire by the Israeli army in the war-torn and impoverished Palestinian territory, ravaged by more than 20 months of conflict.

This rescue organization claims that dozens of wounded have been transported to hospitals in the Gaza Strip, where the war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, against Israel.

"They bombed us while we were sleeping. We did nothing wrong. My two children are dead, and the others are in intensive care," said a grieving Iman Abou Marouf, following a bombing that hit displaced people tents in al-Mawassi [south]. After the strike, the victims were transported in relatives' cars or ambulances to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to images from AFP.

There, bodies wrapped in plastic shrouds line the ground. A mother strokes the face of her dead child. Outside the hospital, Palestinians recite the prayer for the dead. "Several bodies arrived charred, and the wounded suffer from severe burns," a medical source indicated after witnesses reported a significant fire erupting in several tents in al-Mawassi.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Civil Defense, reported "the transportation to Gaza hospitals of 23 martyrs, including children and women, after raids by the occupation forces." Among them were five killed in al-Mawassi and "two children from the Azzam family killed in a raid on a house in Gaza City (north)," he specified.

Given the restrictions imposed by Israel on media in Gaza and the difficulties of accessing the field, AFP is unable to independently verify the Civil Defense's information.

'The cries of children'

"We heard a huge explosion," recounted Abdel Rahman Azzam, a relative. "The cries of the children and women wouldn’t stop. They hit the house with a missile without any prior warning." In southern Gaza, at least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while heading towards a food distribution center, added Bassal.

Israel partially eased at the end of May a total blockade imposed on Gaza in early March, which led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other basic necessities. A distribution mechanism led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by Israel and the United States, was set up, but its operations result in chaotic and sometimes deadly scenes.

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, 583 Palestinians have been killed near humanitarian aid distribution centers since the GHF's operations began at the end of May. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres condemned a "militarized" distribution system that "kills people."

When questioned by AFP about the events reported by Bassal, the Israeli army said it could not comment, recalling that it conducts operations against Hamas. It announced the combat death of one of its soldiers in northern Gaza.

'Bringing back the hostages'

The Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu says it wants to continue the offensive in Gaza to "bring the hostages home and dismantle Hamas," which it has vowed to destroy and oust from the Palestinian territory bordering southern Israel. It also stated its intention to take control of Gaza, where Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union, took power in 2007.

The Oct. 7 attack resulted in 1,219 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Forty-nine of the 251 people kidnapped that day are still hostages in Gaza, 27 of whom were declared dead by the army. More than 56,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza, according to Hamas's Ministry of Health data, deemed reliable by the U.N.

Despite the deadly daily Israeli bombings, U.S. President Donald Trump assured that a ceasefire in Gaza could occur as early as "next week."