Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip yesterday resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including six members of the Al-Masri family, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency and eyewitnesses. The agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, reported that the family’s home in central Gaza City was struck during the early hours of the morning, causing extensive damage to the multi-storey building.
Witnesses described the attack occurring around 2:00 a.m., with explosions followed by a fire that engulfed the house. Ahmed al-Masri, a survivor of the strike, told journalists he managed to help his children escape through a window but was unable to save his brother’s family, which included four children. “My brother’s entire family was wiped from the civil registry: him, his wife and their four children,” he said. Relatives gathered at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital where the bodies and wounded were taken; some mourned openly as they identified their family members.
An Israeli military source acknowledged carrying out an air strike in the area but described the target as “a Hamas fighter,” providing no further details. The military also said it struck “several armed fighters transferring weapons in a vehicle” in southern Gaza, which Gaza’s civil defence agency said resulted in six additional deaths.
Despite a fragile ceasefire currently in place between Israel and Hamas, violence continues in the Gaza Strip. Efforts to negotiate a durable agreement to end the ongoing conflict have made little progress, and recent days have seen an intensification of Israeli military operations targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. These groups are accused by Israel of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the current hostilities.
The United Nations reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 57 Palestinians between July 13 and July 20. A spokesman for the UN human rights office in Geneva highlighted the increased attacks and underscored that “nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza.”
Since a ceasefire took effect last October, Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas and is considered a reliable source by the UN, reports that at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed. By contrast, the Israeli military states it has lost five soldiers and one civilian contractor in Gaza during the same period.
Restrictions on media operations and limited access to the area have hindered independent verification of casualty figures and made comprehensive coverage of the violence difficult.