Israeli airstrikes in Gaza claim lives of 22 children

Palestinians check the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Pics/AFP

At least 22 children were killed in Gaza early on Wednesday in a punishing series of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals and health officials. The strikes killed at least 60 people in total, Gaza's Health Ministry reported, including 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The strikes came a day after Hamas released an Israeli-American hostage in a deal brokered by the US, and as President Donald Trump was visiting Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was "no way" Israel would halt its war in Gaza, dimming hopes for a ceasefire.

A bus that fell inside a crater following an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis

The Israeli military refused to comment on the strikes, but had warned residents of Jabaliya to evacuate late on Tuesday night due to Hamas infrastructure in the area, including rocket launchers. In Jabaliya, rescue workers smashed through collapsed concrete slabs using hand tools in order to remove bodies of some of the children who were killed.

In comments released by Netanyahu's office on 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… destroying Hamas".

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants killed 1200 people in a 2023 intrusion into southern Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.

10
Total No. of people killed in Khan Younus city

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