At least 82 people were killed across the Gaza Strip after Israel launched airstrikes on Friday, according to officials at local hospitals.
Health officials said 66 bodies were taken to Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, while another 16 were reportedly brought to Nasser Hospital as strikes hit the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
Israel did not immediately issue a statement on the strikes, which sent people fleeing from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Friday’s attacks followed days of airstrikes that had already killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The attacks came as US President Donald Trump concluded a regional tour of the Middle East that excluded Israel and offered no indication of progress toward a ceasefire in the war-battered territory.
Humanitarian crisis
An Israeli blockade of Gaza is now in its third month and there had been hope that Trump’s trip could facilitate a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid. Israel says that by restricting the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies, it aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages it holds.
Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on the last day of his Middle East tour, Trump said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises. “We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are – there’s a lot of bad things going on.”
Earlier this week, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it expects to begin operations by the end of the month following what it describes as a key agreement with Israeli officials.
Netanyahu vows to step up war
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate force in Israel’s war on Hamas in a bid to destroy the militant group.
He said the IDF were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission (of) destroying Hamas.”
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the military was intensifying operations to get remaining hostages released and forcing Hamas to relinquish power.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hamas took 251 people as hostages, and is currently holding 57, of whom 22 are believed to be alive.
A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says 856 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.
