During Friday (29) and this Saturday (30), Israeli military attacks left at least 32 dead in Gaza, with the majority of victims reported in the northern regions of the territory, doctors told Reuters.
The escalation comes as Hamas leaders were expected in Cairo on Saturday for ceasefire talks with Egyptian officials, days after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon, two officials from the group told Reuters.
On Saturday, doctors said nine people died when an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle near a group of Palestinians.
Residents and a Hamas source told Reuters that the vehicle hit near the crowd receiving flour was used by security agents tasked with overseeing aid deliveries into Gaza.
Among those killed in Israel’s attacks are also at least seven who died in an attack on a house in central Gaza, according to a statement from Civil Defense and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Gaza Civil Defense also reported that one of its officers was killed in attacks in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, bringing the total number of civil defense workers killed since October 7, 2023 to 88.
The Israeli military said it killed a Palestinian accused of involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, and was investigating allegations that the individual was an employee of the aid group World Central Kitchen.
World Central Kitchen has yet to comment on the incident.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since last year, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. Furthermore, the radical group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised several times to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza. In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army is carrying out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
When the conflict was about to turn one year old, the Israeli population took to the streets in protests against Netanyahu, accusing the prime minister of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement so that the hostages could be released.
