DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces struck a tent sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, medical officials said.
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Health authorities in the coastal enclave said the drone strike hit a neighborhood in Deir al-Balah, one of the least damaged towns in central Gaza. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the fatalities were Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man. Abu Shawish, whose parents are divorced, was visiting his mother’s tent at the time of the strike, and his mother was among seven people wounded in the strike, hospital officials said.
Israel’s military said the strike was targeting a militant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed.
Separately, in a strike Sunday in southern Gaza, the military said it killed Zaher Abu Salem, who it said was a member of Islamic Jihad and was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. Sunday saw a flurry of strikes around Gaza that killed four people, including a 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, who was hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling and was buried Monday.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel says it is targeting militants, often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks since the ceasefire.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Israel’s campaign in Gaa has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
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