At least 12 Palestinians, including six members of one family, were killed in three Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, medics in Gaza say.
Video footage recorded the family’s home set ablaze during the night in the west‑Al‑Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City. The brother of Firas al‑Masri told the BBC that the strike claimed him, his wife Salsabeel and their three daughters Amyra, Salma and Amira, plus their son Naim.
The Israeli defence forces stated the target was a Hamas operative and are still investigating the strike’s outcome.
On Tuesday afternoon, an Israeli air raid on a home in al‑Samar, central Gaza City, killed four more civilians, according to Palestinian medical reports. A drone strike on a vehicle in al‑Zahra, south of Gaza City, added two additional deaths.
Israel has yet to comment on these recent strikes.
The Gaza‑run health ministry said that 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a cease‑fire took effect last October, while four Israeli soldiers have died in their own shooting incidents in Gaza during the same period.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the latest surge of Israeli military operations, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law and a possible atrocity crime. Between July 13 and 20, 57 Palestinians—including six children and eight women—were killed when attacks targeted residential buildings, a tent camp for displaced families, and other crowded locations.
According to spokesman Thameen Al‑Kheetan, 34 of those deaths occurred far from the so‑called Yellow Line that delineates Israeli‑controlled territory in Gaza. “Nine months after the cease‑fire announcement, no place in Gaza feels safe,” Al‑Kheetan warned.
Israel has been conducting a series of attacks aimed at members of Palestinian armed groups, citing their involvement in the Hamas‑led 7 October 2023 assault on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people and the taking of 251 hostages.
Israel’s massive military campaign in Gaza has now claimed the lives of over 73,290 people, per Gaza’s health ministry figures.
