File photo : Mourners gather by the bodies of victims killed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, outside the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia. AFP
On Monday, an Israeli airstrike targeted civilians near the Wadi Gaza bridge in central Gaza, killing at least three people and injuring others, according to WAFA news agency.
Local sources reported that Israeli quadcopter drones dropped multiple bombs on Palestinians who were collecting firewood near the bridge.
Additional reports confirmed that the three victims were from the same family, two of whom were brothers.
In a separate attack, three more civilians were wounded in a drone strike on the Al-Jeneina neighborhood in Rafah, southern Gaza.
These attacks follow an Israeli airstrike on the northern town of Beit Lahia two days earlier, which killed 10 Palestinians, including journalists and humanitarian aid workers from the London-based Al-Khair Charitable Organization, marking the deadliest Israeli assault since the Gaza ceasefire — brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US — was implemented on 19 January.
Since the ceasefire took effect, Israeli bombardment has killed over 150 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
However, bombardment intensified following the expiration of the initial phase of the ceasefire on 1 March, becoming a near-daily occurrence and coinciding with the occupation
renewing its deadly blockade on the strip.
Death toll on the rise
On Monday, the health ministry reported that the death toll had risen to 48,572, the majority being women and children, since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October.
In the last 24 hours, 29 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals, including 15 retrieved from under the rubble and 14 new fatalities, along with 51 wounded from ongoing Israeli attacks, the ministry said in a statement.
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