Bloody Morning in Gaza: 31 Killed in Israeli Strikes Including Women and Children
At least 31 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed early Sunday morning in a series of Israeli airstrikes targeting various areas across the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense and local medical sources.
The spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal, confirmed that the strikes hit residential homes and displacement camps in several regions of the enclave, describing the scene as “catastrophic” due to the extensive destruction and the large number of civilian casualties, most of them from entire families.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Basal stated that “civil defense crews and paramedics transported at least 31 bodies, along with dozens of injured, following intense Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip.”
Nuseirat in the Eye of the Storm
Basal noted that “eight people were killed, including children, and several others injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a drinking water distribution point in a displaced persons’ area west of Nuseirat Camp.” The victims were taken to Al-Awda Hospital in the camp. He later announced that the death toll from this specific strike had risen to ten.
Another ten Palestinians, including children, were killed and more than 20 injured in a separate strike targeting the Al-Sawarha area west of the camp, carried out by an Israeli fighter jet at dawn.
Civilian Homes Targeted in Gaza
Five individuals, including women and children, were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the center of Al-Shati Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City.
In Tel al-Hawa, a neighborhood southwest of Gaza City, two people were killed and others wounded when an apartment was struck. Palestinian Red Crescent medics transferred them to Al-Quds Hospital nearby.
In a separate attack, a young girl was killed and several members of her family were wounded in a strike that targeted a home near the Islamic Complex Mosque in the Sabra neighborhood, southwest of the city.
Three Killed in Khan Younis
In the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, three people were killed in an airstrike targeting a tent for displaced civilians.
Escalating Humanitarian Crisis
These deadly developments coincide with mounting warnings from humanitarian organizations. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported a sharp increase in malnutrition cases, particularly among children, since the strict Israeli blockade began in March.
In a statement, the agency said its teams continue to work to provide essential services to the most vulnerable populations, despite a severe shortage of medical and food supplies.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, following an unprecedented Hamas attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP.
In retaliation, Israel launched a wide-scale military campaign in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 57,882 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to the latest update from Gaza’s Ministry of Health — a source considered reliable by the United Nations.
The Gaza Strip now faces an extreme humanitarian crisis and near-total collapse of its healthcare system and infrastructure.
