Gaza civil defence says 19 killed in Israeli strikes

Israeli air strikes and tank fire kill 19, including six children, in Gaza, sparking devastation and despair among civilians.

Gaza's civil defence agency said that 19 people, including at least six children, were killed by Israeli air strikes and tank fire on Saturday (November 23, 2024).

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that "19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip between midnight and this morning", as well as by tank fire in Rafah in the territory's south.

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One of the strikes hit a house in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north of the territory, killing seven persons, three of them children, and wounding 10.

"What did these people do?" said Abdullah Shaldan, a member of the family whose house was destroyed. "They were sleeping in their homes — they are civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas or the resistance."

AFPTV footage showed people searching the rubble using torches and mobile phones in the darkness, while a young boy desperately cried "papa".

Another strike in the main southern city of Khan Yunis killed six people, including three children, and wounded 26 displaced people who were living in tents near the house that was struck, said Bassal.