Israeli strikes kill 22 Palestinians in Gaza as IDF attacks aid ship off Malta

Express Tribune

02-05-2025

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At least 22 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Friday, as the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory grows increasingly dire under Israel's ongoing blockade.
Meanwhile, a ship belonging to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla—carrying 30 pro-Palestinian activists—was reportedly hit by drones in international waters off Malta.
No injuries were reported, but the vessel caught fire and lost communication after its electrical systems were damaged.
The Maltese government confirmed all 15 crew member and an additional 15 passenger on the vessel were safe, but they refused to board a tug vessel. Total 30 people were on the ship.
The vessel was carrying humanitarian supplies bound for Gaza. However the ship cannot move because it is heavily damaged.
Israeli officials have not commented on the attack. The flotilla group accused Israel or a close ally of carrying it out.
The Gaza Health Ministry said eight members of a single family died in Bureij camp, while strikes in Khan Younis and Abasan al-Kabira killed multiple women and children.
The mounting death toll follows weeks of unrelenting bombardment and a near-total ban on aid, now in its third month.
Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network, said the besieged enclave has run out of food, medical supplies and nutritional supplements needed to treat vulnerable children.
"We have no food supplies or supplementary materials or medications for these children," Shawa . "The cases will become more severe, and there is a serious concern we will see more fatalities in the coming days, the whole Strip is starving, and the majority of children are suffering from malnutrition,' he said.
With health infrastructure devastated by months of conflict, he added, medical facilities are ill-equipped to cope. 'Hospitals are largely destroyed and out of service.
They simply cannot handle the surge in patients without essential supplies,' he said.
The Gaza Health Ministry said eight members of a single family died in Bureij camp, while strikes in Khan Younis and Abasan al-Kabira killed multiple women and children.
The mounting death toll follows weeks of unrelenting bombardment and a near-total ban on aid, now in its third month.
Israeli airstrikes on two separate houses in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of civilians, including women and children, with several others injured, according to local sources.
Media reported that two Palestinians were killed and several others wounded when Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, located in the northwest of Gaza City.
Yemeni rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile strike near Haifa, targeting an Israeli army base in the north of the country.
The rebels' military spokesperson announced in a televised statement that they launched a ballistic missile aimed at the Ramat David Airbase, located southeast of Haifa.
The Israeli military confirmed that hostile aircraft sirens were triggered in Haifa and surrounding areas at around 5:30am, but added that the missile, launched from Yemen, was intercepted before it could reach its target.
Palestinian child was killed in an Israeli drone strike on the Qizan an-Najjar area in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, according to reports from Al Jazeera Arabic.
The outlet also reported that another Palestinian died from wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli attack, which targeted tents housing displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
Austria has called for an end to the ongoing aid blockade on Gaza, which has lasted for over 60 days.
'After two months of blockade, humanitarian aid for Gaza must be allowed to flow unhindered in accordance with international humanitarian law,' the Austrian Foreign Ministry stated in a post on X.
The ministry also urged the release of all Israeli hostages still being held in the enclave.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem has released disturbing footage of armed Israeli settlers raiding a Palestinian family's tent encampment near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
The masked settlers, arriving in vehicles with Israeli flags, rammed a car, stole sheep, vandalized property, and set tents on fire—all under the watch of guards from a nearby illegal settlement outpost.
Despite calls for help, no police responded. 'Settler violence is state violence,' B'Tselem stated.
Eight-year-old Rehab was playing on a swing in Gaza when an Israeli missile strike left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Now confined to a wheelchair, she told Defense for Children International – Palestine: 'I used to walk to school and play with my siblings. Now I'm injured and sitting. I can't walk.'
An Israeli soldier was killed and two others were injured during a military operation in the occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli military said on Thursday.
In a statement, the army said the two injured soldiers sustained light wounds and were evacuated to hospital for treatment. Their families have been notified.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation, the military added. However, Israeli media reported the incident may have been the result of a traffic accident.