Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 18 Palestinians on Saturday, according to medics. The Israeli military stated it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages.
Medics reported that at least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, where people had gathered to receive aid, reports Reuters.
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.
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.
Medics reported that a local journalist was killed in a separate strike in Gaza City. A military spokesperson said they were looking into the incident.
The war in Gaza began on Oct 7, 2023 when Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that has killed at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.
Several attempts to a ceasefire have failed to stop the bombardment on the tiny Palestinian territory.
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 in the Palestinian enclave, Sisi's office said.
The killings ame a on the same day as top US officials and regional Arab power met to discuss the conflicts in the region -- in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
