Nine of a doctor’s 10 children are killed in Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza
CAIRO AP The bodies of people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals in the past hours Gaza s Healthcare Ministry disclosed Saturday a toll that doesn t include hospitals in the battered north that it revealed are now inaccessible The dead over the past day in Israel s renewed military offensive included nine of a professional s children horrified colleagues and the Soundness Ministry disclosed Alaa Najjar a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family s house on fire Ahmad al-Farra head of the hospital s pediatric department recounted The Associated Press Najjar s husband was severely wounded and their only surviving child an -year-old son was in critical condition after Friday s strike in the southern city of Khan Younis Farra declared The dead children ranged in age from seven months to years old Khalil Al-Dokran a spokesperson for Gaza s Medical Ministry reported the AP that two of the children remained under the rubble There was no immediate comment by Israel s military on the strike Earlier Saturday a message explained Israel s air force struck over targets throughout Gaza over the past day The Vitality Ministry explained the new deaths brought the war s toll to since the Hamas-led attack on Oct that sparked the months of fighting The ministry declared people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war on March in an effort to pressure Hamas to accept different ceasefire terms Israel s pressure on Hamas has included a blockade of Gaza and its over million people since early March This week the first small number of aid trucks entered the territory and began reaching Palestinians since the blockade began But they were far fewer than the about trucks a day that had been entering during the ceasefire Warnings of famine by food prevention experts and images of desperate Palestinians jostling for bowls of food at the ever-shrinking number of charity kitchens led Israel s allies to press the establishment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow chosen aid to return Netanyahu s administration has sought a new aid delivery and distribution system by a newly established U S -backed group but the United Nations and partners have rejected it saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon and violates humanitarian principles Israel may now be changing its approach to let aid groups remain in charge of non-food assistance according to a letter obtained by the AP Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid but the U N and aid groups deny there is vital diversion The Oct attack on southern Israel that sparked the war killed selected people mostly civilians and militants abducted others Israel s retaliatory offensive which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza has killed mostly women and children according to the Wellbeing Ministry which doesn t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count Israel commented it will continue to strike until Hamas releases all of the remaining Israeli hostages and disarms Fewer than half of the hostages still in Gaza are concluded to be alive Hamas has commented it will only return the remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from the territory Netanyahu has rejected those terms and has vowed to maintain control over Gaza and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its Palestinian population Follow AP s war coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war Source
