Tensions soared in Gaza on Friday as Israeli airstrikes claimed 16 lives, including children, while militants launched three rockets into Israeli territory. The latest surge comes amid heightened retaliatory warnings from Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz.
The Israeli military reported one rocket striking near the Nir Am community and another landing in an unpopulated zone, while earlier alarms rang near Beeri, opposite central Gaza. Despite the chaos, no injuries were reported in Israel.
In Gaza, however, the toll was grim. Palestinian rescuers recovered 16 bodies, many of them children, from Gaza City, Maghazi refugee camp, and Rafah. “Friday was devastating, especially for Gaza City residents,” stated Mahmud Bassal, Gaza’s Civil Defence spokesperson. Strikes in Zietun and Rafah alone claimed the lives of five, including three children.
Israel’s military claimed to have targeted 40 Hamas sites, some allegedly concealed in former schools. Bassal dismissed these assertions, accusing Israel of blocking essential supplies to Beit Lahia’s Indonesian Hospital, leaving medical teams and patients stranded.
This escalation follows a lull in hostilities during a prolonged 14-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, since late December, Gaza has faced intensified Israeli land and air offensives.
The rising death toll and accusations of blocked aid paint a harrowing picture of life in Gaza. As the violence drags on, civilians bear the brunt of relentless strikes and retaliatory fire.
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