An overnight Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia, a northern Gaza town, killed at least 19 people, including nine children, according to medical officials and the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency.
The attack targeted a three-story home near Kamal Adwan Hospital, trapping dozens under the rubble.
Mahmoud Bassal, a Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson, reported that multiple missiles struck the residence, which housed several families. Rescue teams are continuing efforts to retrieve survivors and bodies from the wreckage.
The ongoing war in Gaza began after Hamas launched a large-scale assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In response, Israel initiated a military campaign to dismantle Hamas.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 44,800 people in Gaza have been killed since the conflict erupted.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed conducting a strike in the area, stating it was aimed at a Hamas “terrorist.”
The strike is part of a broader Israeli ground and air offensive in northern Gaza, launched in October to hinder Hamas’s ability to regroup.
The UN has highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in areas like Beit Lahia, where residents face severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies amid tightened sieges.
No substantial humanitarian aid has reached parts of northern Gaza for over two months, leaving tens of thousands in desperate need, according to the UN.
Elsewhere in Gaza, additional airstrikes claimed lives, including two individuals in Zeitoun, journalist Iman al-Shanti and her son in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, and a family of four in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Palestinian Union of Journalists reported that al-Shanti was the 193rd journalist killed since the conflict began. The IDF has ordered evacuations in some areas, citing rocket launches from those locations.
