Israeli airstrikes kill 21 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza’s Khan Younis bid farewell to their loved ones, killed in Israeli strikes overnight.

One man said his relatives were killed in their tent.

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 21 Palestinians, local health authorities said, as Israeli forces operated in Rafah near the border with Egypt, escalating a new week-long aerial and ground offensive.

Health officials said Israel has killed nearly 700 Palestinians since it resumed attacks on Gaza, ending weeks of relative calm after a ceasefire in January. It said the deaths included at least 400 women and children.

Islamist group Hamas said several of its senior political and security officials had also been killed.

Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

 Footage from Al Jazeera showed the moment an Israeli airstrike hit Nasser hospital in Gaza killing five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said, in an attack Israel said had targeted a key figure in the militant group.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimize harm at the site.

Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been killed.

Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was Barhoum. The military did not name the target.

Hamas Al-Aqsa TV said Barhoum was being treated at the hospital for wounds sustained in a previous attack. Israel says Hamas systematically embeds in hospitals, schools and shelters, which the group denies.