The Israeli military said it “regrets” a strike that killed six children at a water collection point in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 30 people, including nine children on Sunday and injured dozens more.
Up to 10 people – including six children – were killed at the water collection point in the Nuseirat refugee camp, local health officials said.
The Israeli military said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians,” it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.
Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital, told Reuters that the strike killed six children and two others, and injured another 17 people. Another official from the hospital told the Associated Press they received 10 bodies from the attack.
Water shortages in Gaza have worsened considerably in recent weeks, making people dependent on the collection centres.
Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told the Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill containers with water. When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) to fetch water from the area.
In Nuseirat, a small boy leaned over a body bag to say goodbye to a friend. “There is no safe place,” resident Raafat Fanouna said as some people went over the rubble with sticks and bare hands.
Separately, health officials said an Israeli strike hit a group of citizens walking in the street on Sunday afternoon in central Gaza City, killing 11 people and injuring around 30 others.
Dr Ahmed Qandil, who specialises in general surgery, was among those killed, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. A ministry spokesperson, Zaher al-Wahidi, told the AP that Dr Qandil had been on his way to Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital.
In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel’s military said it was unaware of the strike on the home, but said it hit more than 150 targets over the past 24 hours, including what it called weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and sniping posts. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas.
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks aimed at pausing the 21-month war and freeing some Israeli hostages. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal.
Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires.
Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages – with less than half said to be alive – in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
With additional reporting from Associated Press, Reuters
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