Occupation airstrikes kill five children overnight amid large-scale assaults on Gaza
GAZA – Five children were martyred and dozens of others injured in an overnight airstrike by the Zionist occupation on the east of Gaza City, according to WAFA news agency.
The Zionist occupation’s assault on the Gaza Strip continues into its fifth day, with relentless airstrikes targeting various parts of the already devastated enclave. Meanwhile, ground operations are intensifying, accompanied by threats to seize territories within the Strip.
On Friday, Israel Katz called for the expulsion of Palestinian residents and the expansion of occupation in Gaza “with increasing intensity”, using it as a pressure tactic against the Palestinian group Hamas amid stalled negotiations.
Since Tuesday, more than 700 Palestinians have been martyred, including at least 200 children, and over 900 others injured in “Israeli” airstrikes on Gaza. These attacks have shattered a fragile ceasefire agreement that had held since January. Hamas had aimed to move negotiations into a second phase, as agreed upon two months ago. However, the occupation insisted that the Palestinian group release all captives immediately, in a stark deviation from the terms of the agreement.
In another military campaign targeting hospitals in Gaza, the Zionist occupation destroyed on Friday the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which was built by Türkiye and operated by local authorities as a cancer treatment center.
In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry described the detonation of the hospital building, located in central Gaza, as a “heinous crime”. The occupation had previously used the hospital as a headquarters for its forces during its control of the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which served to separate northern Gaza from the southern region.
“The Ministry affirms that this criminal behaviour by the occupier is consistent with the systematic destruction of the healthcare system and is part of the ongoing genocide,” the statement said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 49,617 Palestinians have been martyred and 112,950 wounded in the occupation’s genocidal war on Gaza. Gaza’s Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
