At least eight Palestinians, mostly children, were killed and more than a dozen were injured in downtown Gaza on Sunday (13), local authorities said in an attack with Israeli missile that, according to the military, missed the target.
The Israeli army said it intended to reach an Islamic jihad militant in the area, but that a malfunction caused the missile to fall “to tens of meters from the target.”
“Israel’s defense forces mourn any damage caused to not involved civilians,” he said in a statement, adding that the incident was under analysis.
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The attack reached a water distribution point in the nose-colored refugee camp, killing eight people, including six children, and injuring another 17, said Ahmed Abu Safan, an emergency doctor at Al-Awda Hospital.
Gaza water scarcity has worsened dramatically in recent weeks, with the shortage of fuel causing the closing of desalination and sanitation facilities, making the population dependent on collection centers to fill their plastic containers.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that more than 58,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 deaths added to the death toll in the last 24 hours.
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The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but states that more than half of the dead are women and children.
