An Israeli air strike on an apartment in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza killed a father, a mother, and their six-year-old daughter on Wednesday, according to Palestinian health officials. One child survived and was pulled from the site after Palestinian Civil Defence teams rushed in to extinguish a fire caused by the strike.
The Israeli army later confirmed it had carried out the attack, claiming it had targeted a Hamas fighter.
Elsewhere in Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli air strikes hit a rehabilitation center in Gaza City and a park in Khan Younis in southern Gaza where hundreds of displaced families had been sheltering. The Gaza Ministry of Health said in its daily update that at least 12 bodies were brought to hospitals, one person died of wounds, and 18 were wounded in Israeli attacks over the latest 24-hour reporting period.
"Children are being killed on a daily basis in Gaza, and if they survive air strikes, many die of their wounds because of the lack of medical supplies and hospitals operating with severely reduced capacity," Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Gaza City.
The latest killings occurred despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas in October. Since that agreement, Israeli air attacks have killed more than 1,100 people, including at least 275 children. The United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency reported that 96 percent of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during the same period.
The conflict began in October 2023 after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed and about 240 were taken captive. Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 73,200 people, including at least 21,000 children.
Talks toward a second phase of the ceasefire, which would involve Hamas giving up its weapons and Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza, have largely stalled.
