Israeli strikes kill at least 17 in Gaza as ground troops enter Palestinian territory's north
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israeli strikes killed more than a dozen people in the Gaza Strip early Friday, as Israel sent more ground troops into the Palestinian territory to ramp up its offensive against Hamas.
At least 17 people, some from the same family, were killed after an airstrike hit the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital staff. Hours later, people were still searching through the rubble, looking for survivors.
The attack came a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 100 Palestinians. Hundreds more have died in the past two weeks, as Israel has intensified operations, intended to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages it took during its attack on Israel in October 2023. On Friday, Israel said it had begun ground activity in northern Gaza, in order to expand its security zone.
Israel's military had issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza before expected ground operations. The U.N. humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas last month.
In recent days, Israel has vowed to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it.
To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime. Israel said earlier this week that enough food had entered Gaza during a six-week truce to sustain the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians for a long time.
Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.
The predawn strike on Friday hit a three-story building. In addition to the dead, the attack wounded at least 16 people from the same family. Associated Press reporters saw bodies being carried out in blankets, while others searched for people trapped under the rubble and collected charred remains.
'We don't know how to collect them and how to bury them. We don't know whose remains these are. They were burned and dismembered,' said Ismail Al-Aqqad, whose brother died in the strike, as well as his brother's family.
On Thursday, more than 30 bodies, including women and children, were taken to hospitals in and around Khan Younis, according to hospital staff.
Israel said Friday that it had killed a top Hamas commander in a strike in Lebanon's coastal city of Sidon. Israel said that Hassan Farhat was a commander of Hamas' western area in Lebanon and that he was responsible for numerous attacks against Israel, including one in February 2024, which killed an Israeli soldier and injured others.
In Israel's renewed offensive, troops have expanded the buffer zone, retaking the eastern section of the Netzarim corridor and partially disconnecting northern and southern Gaza.
The U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, known as ACLED, reported there were over 300 airstrike events during 10 days at the end of March — nearly 10 times the number in February.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as part of Israel's offensive, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. The ministry says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has left most of Gaza in ruins, and at its height displaced around 90% of the population.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
28 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos faces detention hearing
BOSTON (AP) — A Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States faces a detention hearing in Massachusetts on Thursday. Kseniia Petrova, 30, has been in federal custody since February and is seeking to be released. Petrova was returning from a vacation in France, where she had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for research. She was later questioned about the samples while passing through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport. She told The Associated Press in an interview in April that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled. Petrova was briefly detained by immigration officials in Vermont, where she filed a petition seeking her release. She was later sent to an ICE facility in Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after 'lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.' They allege that messages on her phone 'revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.' In May, Petrova was charged with smuggling in Massachusetts as a federal judge in Vermont set the hearing date on her petition. That judge later ruled that the immigration officers' actions were unlawful, that Petrova didn't present a danger, and that the embryos were nonliving, nonhazardous and 'posed a threat to no one.' The judge released Petrova from ICE custody, but she remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on the smuggling charge. Colleagues and academics have testified on Petrova's behalf, saying she is doing valuable research to advance cures for cancer.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why the West is bracing for war in the Middle East
The signs could hardly be more ominous. The United States is withdrawing non-essential diplomats and the families of American servicemen from across the Middle East. Britain has warned commercial vessels in and around the Gulf to exercise caution. It seems clear that Western officials are bracing for a potentially imminent Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities – and the retaliation Tehran would unleash in response. The sudden movement of personnel is being interpreted as a signal that Donald Trump has privately told Benjamin Netanyahu he will not stand in the way should the Israeli prime minister decide to act. Such a message would mark a significant shift from the US president's position just a few weeks ago, when he reportedly stayed the Israeli prime minister's hand. That does not mean military action is inevitable. Frustrated by the slow pace of nuclear talks, Mr Trump – a dove at heart – may simply be trying to rattle Tehran. He was deeply riled last month after being branded 'Taco' – an acronym that stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out'. Keenly aware that his adversaries may now view his threats as bluster, and assume the safest course is to wait him out, the US president may be trying to persuade the mullahs in Tehran that playing chicken with him is a dangerous miscalculation. Likewise, even if Washington has given Mr Netanyahu the green light, the Israeli prime minister has backed down at the last minute in the past on the advice of his generals. Ideally, any serious assault on Iran's nuclear programme would include a commando component to cripple its deeply-buried enrichment facilities. But earlier this year, Israel's generals reportedly told the prime minister that planning for a commando operation would not be completed until the autumn. Mr Netanyahu may decide to press on regardless. There are certainly increasingly convincing reasons to believe that, after 16 years of threatening military action, Israel may now be preparing to follow that through. Much has changed since April, when Mr Trump is said to have talked him down, arguing that negotiations remained a better path to prevent Iran from building a bomb. Credit: Reuters Israel is believed to have a strike plan in place, with or without commandos, and Mr Netanyahu was ready to implement it last month. Yet without US backing, he had to back down. No Israeli attack is feasible without American operational support and a commitment to help defend Israel from Iranian retaliation. That calculus appears to be shifting. This week, Mr Trump acknowledged for the first time that diplomacy may be failing, and that he is no longer sure Tehran can be persuaded to halt nuclear enrichment. That impression was reinforced on Thursday when the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, formally found Iran in breach of its nuclear obligations for the first time in two decades. Tehran responded defiantly, announcing plans for a new enrichment facility. In Israel's eyes, that declaration may well amount to a casus belli. The stakes are high. Less hawkish voices in the Trump administration doubt that Israeli strikes could destroy Iran's nuclear capability and warn that strikes could prompt Tehran to race to build a bomb while triggering a wider regional war. Aware of these risks, Israel may instead opt for a more limited assault aimed not at eliminating Iran's nuclear programme but at delaying it by a year. Such an operation, Israeli officials believe, is more likely to succeed now than in the past. Iran's proxy forces – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and, to a lesser extent, the Houthis in Yemen – have been weakened by Israeli strikes, diminishing Tehran's capacity for retaliation. Iran's principal deterrent has been blunted. Moreover, Iran's nuclear facilities are more exposed after Israeli retaliatory strikes last year that destroyed much of its air defence capacity. Still, the regime's most important nuclear facilities remain deeply buried. In the absence of commandos, the only realistic way to destroy them would be with US B-2 bombers carrying 30,000lb bunker-busting bombs flying in support of an Israeli-led mission. It is unclear whether Mr Trump would have the appetite for such a mission. Even a limited Israeli strike, however, risks triggering a wider regional conflagration. Iran is expected to retaliate with missile strikes on Israel – although, given the strength of Israeli air defences, the effectiveness of such an attack would be uncertain. Two Iranian missile assaults last year caused only limited damage. Iranian strikes on US interests in the region or on energy infrastructure in the Gulf would be far more dangerous – steps that could draw Saudi Arabia and its allies into the conflict. Oil prices would soar, exacerbating strains on a global economy reeling from Mr Trump's trade wars. There is still a chance to avert the worst. US and Iranian negotiators are due to meet in Oman on Sunday. What would once have been a routine round of talks has taken on far greater significance. If they go ahead at all, they may now mark a moment of reckoning, with the Americans delivering a final ultimatum – get serious, or face the consequences. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Egypt deports dozens planning pro-Palestinian march, organisers say
CAIRO (Reuters) -Egyptian authorities have deported dozens of foreign nationals who arrived in Egypt to take part in a pro-Palestinian march and dozens more face deportation, the organisers and airport and security sources said on Thursday. Hundreds of people came to Egypt this week for the Global March to Gaza, an international initiative intended to exert pressure for an end to an Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave and draw attention to the humanitarian crisis there. Organisers said people from 80 countries were set to begin the march to Egypt's Rafah Crossing with Gaza, and confirmed some had been deported or were detained at the airport. Three airport sources told Reuters at least 73 foreign nationals had been deported on a flight to Istanbul on Thursday after authorities said they violated entry protocols, and that about 100 more were at the airport awaiting deportation. The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. It had earlier said visits to the Rafah border region must be coordinated in advance with Egyptian embassies or government entities, and underlined the need to follow official procedures to ensure safety and security. The organisers said in a statement late on Wednesday they had complied with all the stated requirements. "In the two months leading up to the march, organisers coordinated directly with Egyptian embassies in over 15 countries and with the Foreign Ministry to ensure transparency at every stage," the organisers said, urging Egypt to free all those who had been detained. Israel's defence minister told the Israeli military on Wednesday to prevent demonstrators entering Gaza from Egypt, and said the march was a threat to Israeli and regional security. Egyptian officials have said the Rafah crossing is closed by Israel on the Gaza side and want international pressure applied on Israel to open it to allow in aid.
