A punishing series of Israeli air strikes on homes in northern Gaza killed at least 48 people in total, the Indonesian Hospital in Jabaliya reported. At least 22 children were among those killed.
The Israeli military refused to comment on the strikes but had warned residents of Jabaliya to evacuate late Tuesday night due to Hamas infrastructure being located in the area, including rocket launchers, making it a possible Israeli target.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “no way” Israel would halt its war in Gaza, dimming hopes for a ceasefire.
In comments released by Netanyahu’s office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were just days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission. ... It means destroying Hamas.”
The strikes came a day after Hamas released an Israeli-American hostage in a deal brokered by the United States, and as President Donald Trump was visiting Saudi Arabia.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in a 2023 attack in southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not specify how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.
Israel’s offensive has obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
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