Israeli military strikes killed at least 70 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in an intensification of the bombardment as U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East.
Medics said most of the deaths, which included women and children, resulted from a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that targeted several houses in the Jabalia area in northern Gaza.
“Some victims are still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams can’t reach [them],” the health ministry statement said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment and said it was trying to verify the reports.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 60 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said.
Reuters television footage showed residents returning to the ruins of their homes. Some sifted through the remains of walls and furniture, looking for documents and belongings.
“They fired two rockets, they told us the house of Moqbel [had been hit],” said Hadi Moqbel, who lost relatives in the attack in Jabalia. “We came running, we saw body parts on the ground, children killed, the woman killed and a baby killed — his head was exploded like a flower. He was two months old.”
Walking through the ruins of what used to be his home, Abu Al-Abd Saleh, 52, says he woke to rocks flying through the air and his children under the rubble.
“They lost consciousness, we woke them up and removed the rubble from them,” he told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife at the scene. “The ambulance came and took them.”
Abu Al-Abd Saleh says that the latest strike in Jabaliya buried his children under rubble; he had to dig them out and rush them to hospital with injuries. But, he says he has no plans of leaving his home.
He said he wasn’t sure why the area was targeted. As a resident of the building his entire life, he said he knew exactly who the neighbours were and none of them were wanted people. Saleh says he’s lived out the war in his home and has no plans to leave with his family anytime soon.
“I am cleaning my home now because, God willing, tonight I will surround it with tarp and will live in it again,” he said. “If they take it, I will pitch my tent here.”
Israeli press reports on Wednesday cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammad Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a strike on Tuesday on what the Israeli military described as a command and control bunker under the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Hamas called the attacks on residential areas “intense” and “savage.” The statement went on to say that such attacks would undermine the ongoing ceasefire negotiations and blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for escalating violence.
There was no confirmation either from the Israeli military or Hamas. On Wednesday, witnesses and medics said an Israeli airstrike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European Hospital, wounding several people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week promised Israeli forces would soon enter Gaza with “full force” to finish off Hamas. Thousands of Israeli reservists had been called up in recent weeks.
Late on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group in Gaza allied with Hamas, fired rockets toward Israel. Shortly before the Israeli strikes began in response, the military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahiya.
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The Israeli escalation came against Palestinian hopes that the Trump visit might provide pressure for a de-escalation of violence. Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage, ahead of Trump’s trip.
Speaking in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump said more hostages would follow Alexander and added that the people of Gaza deserved a better future.
Hamas has freed Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living American hostage, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, raising hopes of a new ceasefire deal. The trip starts in Saudi Arabia with stops in Qatar and the U.A.E. Trump is skipping Israel this time.
Efforts to agree a ceasefire have faltered in recent weeks, with Hamas and Israel exchanging blame. Hamas talked to the United States and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to arrange the release of Alexander, and Israel has sent a team to Doha to begin a new round of talks.
On Tuesday, Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler met hostage families in Tel Aviv and said they could now see a better chance of an agreement for their release following the deal over Alexander.
The U.S. has also presented a plan to reopen humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza using private contractors. Israel, which imposed a total blockade of supplies going into Gaza from March 2, has endorsed the plan. But it has been rejected by the United Nations and international aid agencies and key details, including funding and donors, remain unclear.
The risk of famine and mass starvation is rising in Gaza, the World Health Organization warns. Palestinian health officials say dozens of children have died of malnutrition since March, the month Israel blocked all aid shipments.
Israel began its invasion of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, including several Canadian citizens. Israel said 251 people overall were taken as hostages into Gaza.
The Israeli campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and devastated the small coastal enclave. Its population of around 2.3 million people is on the brink of famine, according to aid groups and international agencies
