At least 10 people, including children, were killed on Sunday morning near a water distribution point in central Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave, as Israel pressed on with its military campaign there despite U.S.-led efforts to broker a truce.
Dr. Marwan Abu Nasser, the director of Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, said that the victims’ bodies and more than a dozen wounded people were taken to the hospital after the strike took place roughly a half-mile away.
People have frequently gathered each morning at the water point, according to Rami Al-Shrafi, another doctor at Al-Awda Hospital, because many Palestinians in the area are displaced and lack access to running water or plumbing.
“It seems the shell landed there and struck them directly,” Dr. Shrafi said.
When asked about the strike in Nuseirat, the Israeli military said that a “technical error” had caused an Israeli munition — intended for an Islamic Jihad militant — to land dozens of meters from its target. The military said in a statement that it was aware that casualties were reported as a result, adding that “the incident is under review.”
Hours later, in northern Gaza, a separate strike on a crowded junction in Gaza City killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens more, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, an emergency rescue group under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
Fadel Naim, a doctor at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, said that the medical center had received a number of casualties from that attack. He added that Ahmad Qandil, also a doctor at the hospital, was among the dead.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of the strike in Gaza City. In a separate statement on Sunday, the military said that its air force had attacked more than 150 targets across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including weapons storage facilities and sniper posts.
The deadly strikes came as recent efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have yet to yield results.
Israeli officials and President Trump had projected high optimism for an agreement ahead of a visit last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to Washington. But the talks appear to have stalled for the time being amid gaps between the two sides.
In the meantime, Israeli forces have continued to attack in Gaza, part of a 21-month war that began after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people and saw roughly 250 people taken to Gaza as hostages.
Since then, more than 58,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry there. The ministry’s casualty lists do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but they include thousands of children.
Over the past month, more than 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, including five who were killed in a roadside ambush last week.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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