Israeli strike in Gaza kills 20 Palestinians in ‘safe zone’

A casualty is brought on a stretcher into Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis following Israeli bombardment in Gaza Strip. PIC/AFP

Israeli airstrikes early Wednesday killed 20 Palestinians in central Gaza, including six children and three women, some of them inside a purported "safe zone" declared by the Israeli military, hospital authorities said. This second straight night of deadly strikes in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nearby refugee camps came as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators as well as Israeli officials came together in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks trying to push through a long-elusive deal for a cease-fire and hostage release.

Israel and Hamas had appeared to narrow the gaps in recent days, but obstacles remain. Strikes early Wednesday hit three houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 12 people including five children, said authorities at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.

The camp, like others around Gaza, was originally erected to house Palestinians driven from their homes during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It has grown into an urban neighborhood in the decades since. A fourth strike early Wednesday killed four men, three women and a child when it hit a home in Deir al-Balah, an area that is located within the "humanitarian safe zone" where Israel has told Palestinians to seek refuge as it conducts offensives in multiple parts of the Gaza Strip.

Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that, during the night, Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets attacked the two terrorist infrastructures of the air defence system of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah in the areas of Janta in deep Lebanon and Rashit in southern Lebanon. Also, IAF warplanes attacked a Hezbollah weapons warehouse in the area of the village of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon. The attacks came after two people, a married couple, were killed on Tuesday when Hezbollah fired 40 rockets on the Golan.

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