Gaza Strip: Palestinian residents of war-battered Gaza fled homes and businesses as Israeli strikes and tank fire killed at least four people Monday, August 24, including two children, hospital officials said, a week after a US delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks.
After evacuation warnings by Israel’s military, a strike hit a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. One family was unable to flee and a 4-year-old child was killed, according to Awda Hospital, where he was taken. His mother and sister were wounded. There was no Israeli military comment.
Israeli strikes hit three other buildings across the territory after residents said they received evacuation warnings. Some people sprinted away, with mothers carrying children, while others moved amid the rubble in wheelchairs or with canes.
Smoke rose over the already devastated landscape.
Israel’s military said it carried out strikes in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, targeting what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques. The military did not provide evidence but said the facilities contained dozens of “dozens of Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment.”
An earlier Israeli strike on a tent in Deir al-Balah killed a man, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where his body was taken. Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit.
A man was killed and five others were wounded in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the casualties.
And Israeli tank fire hit an area east of Khan Younis, killing a 10-year-old girl, according to the hospital, where her body was taken.
Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the strike in Khan Younis and said it was not aware of the incident with the child.
Israel has continued to carry out targeted killings in the week since a U.S. delegation met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to push last year’s ceasefire deal forward.
US negotiator Jared Kushner asked Netanyahu to draw down Israel’s attacks in Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said last week, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to brief journalists.
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