Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike martyred 10 members of a family on Friday night in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.
Violence in the Gaza Strip continues to rock the coastal territory more than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, even as international mediators work to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.
“There are 10 martyrs … all targeted by an air strike on their home in Jabalia al-Nazla, southwest of Jabalia. All of the martyrs are from the same family, including seven children, the oldest aged six,” civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told media. Â Bassal said the strike injured 15 other people.
Israel in early October began a major military operation in Gaza’s north, which it said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.
Amid the ongoing violence, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar are engaged in renewed negotiations to halt the war and secure the release of dozens of hostages still held by militants in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the United States expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospects of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
The war was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, most of them civilians.
Hamas militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 96 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has martyred at least 45,206 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
