Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people, Palestinian medics said.
One of the strikes hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late on Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
One of Gaza’s few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months, sought urgent help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments, and the staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment. On Sunday it said it was supplying fuel and food to the hospital and helping evacuate some patients and staff to safer areas.
The latest attacks come as gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials’ remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or injured. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) is internationally recognised but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it co-operates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The A blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws”. It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centres in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Middle East War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ October 7th attack out of Gaza in 2023, which ignited the war there.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.
Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. – AP/Reuters
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