Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians in northern Gaza overnight, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, as Israel threatens to ramp up its military campaign in the enclave despite mounting international pressure.
The bodies of more than 50 people killed overnight had arrived at the Indonesian Hospital by noon on Wednesday, according to Marwan Sultan, director of the medical facility in the town of Beit Lahia. He said children were among the dead and that dozens more people had been injured. Gaza’s health ministry also said that about 70 people had been killed on Wednesday, without specifying where.
Gaza health officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians when reporting death tolls.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, had warned on Tuesday night of an impending attack on parts of northern Gaza where he said militants had been firing rockets at Israeli territory.
The Trump administration has been seeking to broker an end to the 18-month war, which Palestinian health officials say has killed more than 50,000 people and brought the enclave to the brink of starvation.
After Israel ended a two-month cease-fire with Hamas in March, Israeli forces resumed bombarding the Gaza Strip. Ground forces have also advanced deeper into the enclave, recapturing areas they had withdrawn from during the cease-fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has more recently threatened an “intensive” escalation in Gaza unless Hamas lays down its weapons and turns over the hostages it still holds. The Israeli military has called up thousands of additional soldiers to bolster the war effort, and the government has vowed to seize additional territory there until Hamas complies.
The leaders of Hamas have refused to disarm and have said that they will not free the remaining hostages unless Israel ends the war and withdraws from the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday night, Israeli fighter jets bombarded the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in an effort to kill Muhammad Sinwar, one of the group’s top remaining military commanders. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas complex underneath the European Hospital near Khan Younis.
Neither Israel nor Hamas have publicly commented on whether Mr. Sinwar was killed in the bombardment.
Israeli officials said they hoped eliminating Mr. Sinwar, one of Hamas’s most intransigent negotiators, would make the group more flexible on the demands for a truce. But Israel has assassinated numerous Hamas leaders since the beginning of the war, without compelling the group to accept its terms.
Mr. Sinwar’s older brother, Yahya Sinwar, led Hamas in Gaza and was one of the main planners of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that ignited the war. After Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces last year, Muhammad Sinwar assumed a more prominent role inside the group.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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