18 killed as Israeli airstrike hits mosque in Gaza, claims Palestinian media
An Israeli airstrike on a mosque in central Gaza killed five people and injured 20 people. The Israeli military said in a statement it conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre.
by Reuters · India TodayIn Short
- Mosque located near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza Strip's Deir al-Balah
- Israeli military said strike targeted Hamas command and control centre
- Mosque used to house displaced people, deaths may rise
At least 18 people were killed and dozens of others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza mosque early on Sunday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The strike on the mosque, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, came as the war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary.
Eyewitnesses said the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people.
The Israeli military said in a statement it "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded in a structure that previously served as the 'Shuhada al-Aqsa' Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah".
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
It has also displaced nearly all the enclave's 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.