Israel kills at least 33 in Gaza strikes

Israeli airstrikes

DEC 12 (AP/UNB)--Israeli airstrikes in northern and central Gaza killed at least 33 people overnight, Palestinian medical officials said Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return to the Middle East this week for his first diplomatic visit since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Hospital records show one Israeli strike on a home in northern Gaza killed 19 people including a family of eight — four children, their parents and two grandparents.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant in the vicinity of the hospital, part of a blistering offensive in Gaza’s isolated and heavily destroyed north.

“We have received distress calls from neighbors and trapped people, but we’re not able to leave the hospital because of the continued risk,” said the director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital.

The strikes in Gaza came a day after Israel carried out a wave of hundreds of airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people, including children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials. They say women and children make up more than half the dead but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.