Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 24 Palestinians

GAZA STRIP (AFP): Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 24 people across the Palestinian territory, with Israel’s military saying it had targeted Hamas fighters overnight.

The latest violence, following more than 15 months of war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, comes as truce mediator Qatar said negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal were in their “final stages”.

The civil defence agency said in a statement that 11 bodies were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, after Israel struck a family home in Deir el-Balah city during the night.

A seven-year-old boy and three teenagers were among the dead, the agency said.

A separate strike targeted a school building used as shelter for war-displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, killing seven people and injuring several others, the civil defence agency said.

A third strike at dawn hit a house in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six people and injuring seven, the agency added.

The Israeli military confirmed that its forces had carried out multiple strikes overnight in Gaza, saying in a statement that they were “precise” and targeted “terrorist operatives”.

Over the past 24 hours, the military said it had struck more than 50 targets across the Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed 46,645 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.