Palestinian medical staff said at least 60 people died in the Gaza Strip as U.S. and Arab mediators pushed for a ceasefire agreement and U.S. President Donald Trump visited the Middle East.
They said most of the victims, including women and children, were killed in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and attacked houses and tents.
Medical staff said the deceased included local journalist Hassan Samour, who worked at AQSA radio station in Hamas-Run and killed with 11 family members during the crash.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment, which has exacerbated the offensive in Gaza as it attempts to eliminate Hamas' deadly attack in retaliation for the deadly attack, a Palestinian militant group in Israel in 2023.
Israel undertook the latest strike as Palestinians commemorated the “Nakba” or disaster, when thousands fled or were forced to flee their hometowns and villages during the 1948 Middle East War, which gave birth to the Israeli state.
Since most of the 2.3 million people inside Gaza are internally displaced, some residents of some small lands say that the suffering is greater now than in the Nakba era.
“We are going through worse now than Nakba in 1948,” said Ahmed Hamad, a Palestinian in Gaza, who has been displaced several times.
“The truth is that we live in a constant state of violence and displacement. We face attacks wherever we go. Death surrounds us everywhere.”
Upgrade violence
Palestinian health officials said Israeli attacks have escalated since Trump began visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, and many Palestinians hope he hopes he can get a truce.
Local health officials said the latest strike was a killing of at least 80 people in a Wednesday attack on Gaza.
A new indirect ceasefire negotiation between Israel and Hamas was barely taken, led by Trump’s envoys, Egyptian mediators in Qatar and Doha.
Hamas said it was ready to release all the remaining hostages it held in Gaza in exchange for the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers temporary victory, saying the war can only end if Hamas is eliminated.
According to the Israeli Bureau of Statistics, Israel retaliated against Hamas-led attacks in the southern Israeli community on October 7, 2023, with about 1,200 people killed and 251 considered hostages in Gaza.
According to local health officials, Israel's military campaign killed more than 52,900 Palestinians. Aid organizations and international agencies say it puts Gaza on the verge of extinction.
The U.S.-backed humanitarian group will begin working in Gaza under the aid allocation plan by the end of May, but has asked Israel to allow the United Nations and others to resume delivery to the Palestinians now until its establishment.
No humanitarian aid has been provided to Gaza since March 2, and the Global Hunger Monitor warned that 500,000 people are facing hunger in Gaza.
At least 70 Palestinians, including children, have been killed in an Israeli military strike across Gaza, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military did not immediately comment and said it was trying to verify the reports.
