Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight have killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said.
A strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City killed at least eight people, including three children, according to the Civil Defence – first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government. The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike on Hamas militants sheltering there.
Another six people were killed in separate strikes on Sunday, according to local hospitals.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on those strikes.
Israel and Hamas have recently appeared to draw closer to a ceasefire agreement that would include the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, but several obstacles remain, and the long-running indirect talks have repeatedly stalled.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in.
Israel has been carrying out a major operation in northern Gaza since early October, battling Hamas in the most isolated and heavily damaged part of the territory. Tens of thousands have fled as the military has ordered a complete evacuation and allowed almost no humanitarian aid to enter.
The Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, known as Cogat, said it had facilitated the evacuation of more than 100 patients, caregivers and others from the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Awda Hospital in the far north, which have struggled to function. Cogat said it had also facilitated the delivery of 5,000 litres of fuel and food packages to the hospitals.
