Relatives carry the bodies of two Palestinian sisters Mira, 8, and Sabah Bashir, 10, who were killed in an Israeli army airstrike of the Gaza Strip, during their funeral in Deir al-Balah. AP
Israeli forces killed five people outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly-created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population, while 40 others were killed waiting for aid in other locations across the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of people were killed in Israeli airstrikes that pounded the Strip Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
A separate strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people also killed 15 people.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead, since Israel's genocidal war began on Oct. 7, 2023. More than half of the dead are women and children.
The deaths come as Israel and Hamas edge closer to a possible ceasefire that could end Israel’s genocidal 21-month campaign.
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
But Hamas’ response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in Israel's relentless bombardment of the Strip.
The war has left the besieged Palestinian territory in ruins, displaced more than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, often multiple times, and sparked a humanitarian crisis, leaving Gaza's entire population on the brink of famine, according to UN estimates.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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