Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 18

GAZA STRIP (AFP): Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes and shelling killed at least 18 people across the territory on Tuesday, including children, while the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas operatives.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes primarily targeted Deir el-Balah, Gaza City and the Khan Yunis area.

The Israeli military told AFP that the air force conducted overnight “several strikes on Hamas terrorists who were involved in terror activities”.

“Last night was harsh and bloody,” Bassal told AFP, accusing Israel of conducting “dozens of air and artillery strikes across all areas of the Strip”.

“Eighteen people were killed and dozens injured” in strikes on a tent and several homes in Deir el-Balah, Khan Yunis and Gaza City, he added.

Ten people, including a one-year-old girl, were killed when a strike hit the home of the Abed family in the Al-Manara area of Khan Yunis, Bassal said.

The other deceased included the child’s parents, grandfather and uncle, he added.

In a separate strike, four children were killed when a home belonging to the Abu al-Shaar family in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City was struck, Bassal said.

Another strike hit a tent filled with displaced Palestinians, killing three people in the Deir el-Balah area, he added.

Witnesses said an Apache helicopter fired on areas of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have been conducting a sweeping offensive since October.

The latest strikes occurred as a “final round” of talks to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal was due to begin in Qatar, according to a source briefed on the negotiations.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the UN considers reliable.