Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as IDF stops drone from Yemen
A further 86 people were injured in the airstrike, it said.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that rockets hit a restaurant and a nearby busy intersection with market stalls, killing a Palestinian journalist among others.
Videos circulating in Palestinian media showed blood-covered victims at tables and on the floor of the devastated restaurant, as well as in the market.
The footage and information could not initially be independently verified. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it would investigate the report.
After a separate attack on a former school building in the city, volunteers recovered 15 bodies from the rubble, according to the Hamas-controlled civil defence service. Ten others were reported injured.
Palestinian sources said the building had been used to house displaced people. Local media published footage reportedly showing several men, some in a state of despair, mourning the victims wrapped in shrouds.
The information about the attack could not be independently verified and the Israeli military did not initially comment on the reports when asked.
Recent Gaza death toll mounting
According to WAFA, at least 61 people have been killed in attacks in the Gaza Strip since Monday night. Medical sources said the number of people killed in an attack on a former school building housing displaced people in Al-Bureij on Tuesday evening has risen to 33 from 17.
Israel said that evening it had attacked a Hamas command and control centre where weapons were also stored.
Israel recently announced that it intends to further intensify its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of pressurizing the Palestinian Islamist group to release more hostages.
Israel says it intercepted drone from Yemen
The Israeli military said it had intercepted a drone fired from Yemen on Wednesday, after warning sirens sounded.
Israeli media reports said the drone was fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked Israel and international merchant ships in solidarity with their Palestinian ally, Hamas.
A Houthi missile struck near Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on Sunday for the first time. The Israeli Air Force responded with massive airstrikes on militia targets in Yemen.
The United States has been attacking Houthi targets in Yemen for months with the stated aim of protecting international shipping in the Red Sea.
On Tuesday evening, the Houthis agreed in principle to a ceasefire with the United States on the condition that Washington also abides by it.
"The US interfered to support the Israeli entity by attacking Yemen. So, if they stopped their aggression, we will stop responding," Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel-Salam told al-Masirah TV late on Tuesday.
Abdel-Salam stressed that the militia's stance towards Israel remains unchanged.
Hostage families shocked after Trump revises death toll
With the war in Gaza continuing unabated as Israeli hostages remain in captivity, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday contradicted official Israeli figures and announced that three more of the people held in Gaza have died, leaving 21 alive.
Relatives of the hostages reacted with dismay on Wednesday. Cherut Nimrodi, the mother of a soldier kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, told the Israeli news portal ynet that she was concerned that information was being withheld from the families.
She is from one of three families whose relatives are being held hostage and whose fate remains unclear, Nimrodi said. She added that there has been no sign of life from her son since he was kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
Nimrodi said she was surprised that Trump had stated so categorically that three hostages had been killed. "Where did he get this information?" she asked.
She noted that the US president often makes "statements that are not fully verified," but said she was still very concerned.
The Israeli government's official position is that 24 hostages are still alive and that Hamas-allied groups are holding the bodies of another 35 people. However, Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister's wife, recently said there were probably fewer.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement after Trump's comments, calling on the Israeli government to provide it with any new information. It also demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of all hostages.
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Wall Street Journal
6 minutes ago
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