Israeli strike hits a tent in central Gaza, killing 3, including a child

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ

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 claimed the strike was targeting a combatant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed.

A strike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed Zaher Abu Salem, the Israeli military said, describing him as a member of Islamic Jihad who was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. A total of four people were killed Sunday in a flurry of strikes around Gaza, 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 combatants, 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 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 fighters.

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Israel’s campaign in Gaza 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.

Palestinian teen killed near Ramallah

Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided locations throughout the occupied West Bank, including near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a 15-year-old from Jerusalem was killed by a gunshot to the head.

Emergency crews transported Amir Jaber to the hospital from the al-Bireh area after attempting to resuscitate him at the scene, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. It also reported two injured by Israeli fire in a raid near Hebron, the West Bank’s most populous city.

The Israeli military did not comment immediately.

The raid near Ramallah — the Palestinians’ administrative capital in the West Bank — was among half a dozen throughout the territory reported by WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, on Monday.

At least 59 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last week.

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war