An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children, as Israel wages a nearly monthlong air and ground operation in what was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, as Israel wages a nearly monthlong air and ground operation in what was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory.
The strike late Monday hit a home where several displaced families were sheltering in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel, according to Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the recently raided and barely functioning Kamal Adwan Hospital, which received the casualties.
The Israeli military said it targeted a weapons storage facility from which a militant had operated, and that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”
The dead included eight women and six children, according to a list provided by the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service.
Separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza early Tuesday killed another 10 people, according to health officials.
Israel launched the offensive in the north after saying Hamas militants had regrouped there.
The army has returned to several areas of Gaza multiple times after previous operations, as Hamas continues to carry out hit-and-run attacks on troops and fire occasional rockets into Israel.
