At least 15 people of one Palestinian family including 9 children have been killed in a latest Israeli bombing in Gaza. The latest Israeli bombing took place at az-Zawayda area of central Gaza.
Reports said that the 15 people killed in the overnight attack were members of the al-Ejlah family, with three women among the dead while the total death toll from the attack was 16, Al-Jazeera reported.
The report said three Israeli missiles hit the warehouse, located a few kilometres south of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
“A massive fire broke out, burning everything in the warehouse as children were torn to pieces. Rescue efforts are still continuing to try to recover more bodies,” the report mentioned.
“There is a great level of frustration and grief. The bodies are now being lined up at Al-Aqsa Hospital’s morgue as the family gets ready to bury them,” it added.
The latest attack took place after international mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – wrapped up ceasefire negotiations in Doha on Friday that they described as “serious and constructive”.
The negotiations are aimed at ending the war and seeing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza for Palestinians jailed in Israel.
“What have they done to deserve this?” Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul, a local who witnessed Israel’s latest assault, told the AFP news agency.
The report also said the Israel had carried out more air attacks mainly on residential houses in the enclave, with one of them killing at least seven Palestinians from the same family on the western side of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Meanwhile, Israel has issued yet another round of evacuation orders on Saturday, this time for neighbourhoods in central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to travel to Israel on Saturday to continue diplomatic efforts towards reaching a ceasefire deal. Earlier, President Joe Biden said an agreement was in sight and warned parties in the Middle East to not undermine the negotiations. Blinken is set to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday(August 19).
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks had killed 69 people and injured 136 in the last 48 hours.
The latest death brings the enclave’s casualty toll since October 7 to 40,074 killed and 92,537 injured, as per the Ministry’s statistics.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive, Al-Jazeera report mentioned.
