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At least 18 killed in Israel strikes on Gaza

An injured woman is help from the scene of the Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah
An injured woman is help from the scene of the Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah

At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, medics said, while the Israeli military said it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages.

At least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza where people gathered to receive aid, medics said.

Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws and private cars from the site of the attack to the hospital, medics said. The strike killed the head of the Hamas-run administrative committee in central Gaza, a Hamas source said.

The Israeli military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said. Earlier, Israeli aircraft struck militants and weapon caches near an aid warehouse, the military said, after gunmen had fired rockets into Israel from there.

A separate strike in Gaza City on a former shelter housing displaced people targeted Hamas fighters, the military said. At least seven people were killed in that attack, Palestinian medics said, including a woman and her baby.

The UNWRA Al-Majda Wasila Governmental School housing displaced Palestinians was hit

It was unclear whether any of the other people killed were fighters. The military said it had taken precautions to reduce risk of harm to civilians.

A separate strike in Gaza City killed a local journalist, medics said. The military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said.

The war in Gaza began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that has killed at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the territory in ruins.

A fresh bid by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach a truce has gained momentum in recent weeks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed with visiting US officials efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostages-for prisoners deal, his office said.