DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including children, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north.
Further details emerged of the Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.
Gaza's Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Israel also blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was visiting Israel on Sunday and was meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel is pursuing a new U.S.-backed plan to control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected. U.N. World Food Program executive director Cindy McCain told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israel’s claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks. “These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in and they run for it,” she said.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 107 trucks of aid entered Sunday. The U.N. has called the rate far from enough. About 600 trucks a day entered during the ceasefire.
Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
More on the killing of a doctor's 9 children
In Friday's strike, only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children survived at their home near the southern city of Khan Younis. The 11-year-old and al-Najjar’s husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt.
The children's charred remains were put in a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan.
The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother, Ismail al-Najjar, was first to arrive at the scene.
“They were innocent children," the brother said, the youngest 7 months old. "And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions.”
Israel has said “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.
There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes. One killed a mother and two children in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Another in northern Gaza's Jabaliya area killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Also on Friday in Khan Younis, two International Committee of the Red Cross staffers were killed when shelling struck their home, the ICRC said.
“This is not an endless war," Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to Khan Younis. Recent ceasefire talks in Qatar gained no ground.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive. Israel's 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed.
New from Hezbollah's leader
Speaking on the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated the Lebanese militant group’s stance that it will not discuss giving up its remaining weapons until Israel withdraws from the five border points it occupies in southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes.
The speech came nearly six months after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Under the deal, Israel and Hezbollah were supposed to withdraw forces from southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials have said they plan to remain at the five points indefinitely to secure their border. Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily airstrikes in southern Lebanon and sometimes in Beirut’s suburbs.
“We adhered completely” to the agreement, Kassem said, adding: “Don’t ask us for anything else from now on. Let Israel withdraw, stop its aggression, release the prisoners and fulfill all obligations under the agreement. After that, we will discuss each new development.”
A missile from the Houthis
Separately, Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict.
The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
