Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 7

Six of the seven were killed in various parts of Gaza City.

Two people were killed in a drone strike on a car, while one was killed in a drone attack on a tent in an encampment for displaced people, the rescue service and al-Shifa hospital said.

The Israeli army told AFP that the three targeted were “military operatives in terrorist organisations”.

“Two people, a woman and a child, were killed and others were wounded when Israeli aircraft bombed a residential building” in Gaza City, the civil defence said.

A woman was also killed by artillery shelling in Gaza City, health officials reported.

The civil defence reported that “one person was killed by Israeli fire southeast of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.”

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was checking the reports about the other four victims.

The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on Oct 7, 2023.

Hamas on Thursday denied Israeli claims that it uses Gaza hospitals for military activities, after the army said Wednesday that militants “advanced attacks from within (Kamal Adwan) hospital” in northern Gaza.

Hamas said in a statement called the accusations “criminal incitement”.

Israel’s military offensive against the Islamist group has displaced nearly all the population of Gaza and killed more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. They do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Since a ceasefire was declared in October last year, Israeli forces have killed at least 1,450 people in Gaza, according to the ministry.

The Israeli military has declared the deaths of five soldiers and one civilian contractor in the same period.