Children and parents among 8 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, officials say

Jerusalem: Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed eight people, including two children aged 7 and 9 and their parents, Palestinian officials said Monday.

 A third child, 10 years old, was wounded in an overnight strike on a tent where displaced people were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Civil Defence, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government. An Associated Press reporter saw the children’s bodies at nearby Nasser Hospital.

 A separate strike early Monday killed four people, including a woman and a child, in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

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 The Israeli military blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing militants of hiding among civilians and fighting from residential areas. It rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

 The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

 Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 43,800 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. They do not distinguish between militants and civilians but say most of those killed are women and children. The fighting has left some 76 people dead in Israel, including 31 soldiers.

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