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At least 69 people have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli military strikes on Thursday, according to local rescuers, as Israel escalated its bombardment of the Palestinian territory. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency reported that one air strike killed 15 people, mostly women and children, at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighbourhood. The Israeli military stated the strike targeted a “key” Hamas operative operating from a command centre, without confirming the school as the location.
Elsewhere, 38 people were reportedly killed while queueing for humanitarian aid or en route to collect it, the Civil Defence said. This included 25 deaths near the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, six at another nearby site, and seven in Rafah in the south. Medics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported at least 20 deaths among those heading to an aid distribution centre. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dismissed reports of widespread casualties at aid sites as “lies,” with no direct response to these specific incidents. The strikes come amid renewed diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump to secure a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal. Israel has agreed to the “necessary conditions,” Trump announced, but Hamas insists on a permanent end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, set to visit Washington on Monday, maintains that Hamas must be eliminated. The IDF reported striking 150 “terror targets” across Gaza in the past 24 hours, targeting fighters, tunnels, and weapons. Gaza’s health ministry reported 118 deaths during the same period. In al-Mawasi, a designated safe zone, five displaced people were killed in a strike on a tent, with witnesses describing no safe areas left in Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the US and Israel, has faced scrutiny after reports of civilian deaths near its aid distribution sites. Gaza’s health ministry claims 408 people have been killed near GHF centres in the past five weeks, with an additional 175 deaths along other aid routes. The GHF denied allegations from a former contractor who claimed colleagues fired on civilians, calling them “categorically false.” The UN and other aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, citing violations of humanitarian principles. The conflict, ongoing since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, has resulted in at least 57,130 deaths in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
