Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike has killed 20 people in northern Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children.

Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of a nearby hospital that received the casualties, said the strike late Monday hit a home in the town of Beit Lahiya where multiple families were sheltering.

The dead included eight women and six children, according to a list provided by the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has been waging a massive offensive in northern Gaza — which was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory — for nearly a month.

It has ordered the complete evacuation of Beit Lahiya, the nearby town of Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and has allowed almost no humanitarian aid into the area for over a month.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement in the war, which began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

That attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and another 250 people were taken hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll but says over half of those killed were women and children. Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times.

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