DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli drone strike on Saturday killed two Palestinian siblings, including a 15-year-old girl, in southern Gaza and wounded at least seven others, according to Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
The strike targeted tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the sprawling camp of Muwasi, killing 15-year-old Islam Moussa and her 30-year-old brother, Abdullah.
The Israeli military acknowledged it had struck the area of Muwasi, saying it had targeted a Hamas militant but did not immediately provide more information.
In the hospital’s courtyard, relatives wept over the bodies covered in white burial shrouds.
Also Saturday, Palestinians reported hearing a loud boom in Gaza City.
The Israeli military struck a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in western Gaza City, wounding at least 12 people, according to Shifa Hospital. The ambulance service of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two people were critically wounded and the majority of those hurt were women.
The Israeli military said that it struck a Hamas militant and was not aware of uninvolved civilians being harmed.
Strikes continued Saturday evening in the central Gaza Strip, with no immediate word of casualties. Israel’s military said it was checking on the reports.
Despite a fragile ceasefire reached in October that paused the heaviest fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group, Israel continues to carry out near daily strikes and shelling across the coastal enclave. Israel and Hamas continue to trade accusations of violating the ceasefire. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat and in response to ceasefire violations.
Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has killed more than 1,030 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
The ministry said earlier this month that Israel has killed more than 250 children in Gaza since the Oct. 10 ceasefire took effect.
A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations has accused Israel of deliberately shooting children in Gaza, and repeated an accusation that Israel has committed genocide in the territory. Israel denies that it committed genocide in Gaza during the two-year war.
The Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,050 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Shurafa writes for the Associated Press.
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