18 Killed In Israeli Airstrikes Across Gaza: Victims Include Mom & 3 Kids, Children As Young As 3

Israel said it tried to avoid harming civilians, and accused Hamas of putting people in danger by fighting in residential areas.

At least 18 people have been killed across the Gaza Strip since Monday due to Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian officials said. These included a mother and three children who were killed in an airstrike on the Tufah neighbourhood of Gaza City, the first responders of the Hamas-run government said, as reported by the Associated Press (AP). According to AP, three other people were missing after the strike.

In another strike targeting a building in downtown Gaza City, a child, three women and a man were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the news agency reported.

Early on Tuesday, a strike in southern Gaza killed five people. The victims were identified as a man, his three children (one as young as 3 years old) and a woman, said Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were taken, AP reported.

Israel said it tried to avoid harming civilians, and accused Hamas of putting people in danger by fighting in residential areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza since the conflict began last October. 

Gaza Hospital Cleared Out After Israel Orders Evacuation Of Nearby Areas

One of Gaza’s last functioning hospitals has been cleared out after Israel ordered evacuations in nearby areas, signalling a possible ground operation, AP reported, based on quotes from officials. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main hospital serving central Gaza. 

While Israel hasn’t ordered the hospital’s evacuation, patients and those sheltering there fear it could get caught in the crossfire and become a target of a raid. According to AP, Israeli forces have invaded several hospitals in Gaza during the 10-month-long war, accusing Hamas of using the facilities for military purposes — claims that the Palestinian health officials have denied. 

Citing United Nations data, AP reported that evacuation orders from Israel now cover about 84% of Gaza's territory, and that around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been forced out of their homes, many of them displaced multiple times.