An Israeli air strike in central Gaza on Sunday killed ten civilians, including six children, who were waiting near a water tanker with empty jerry cans, according to local emergency service officials.
The victims were transported to Nuseirat’s al-Awda Hospital, where 16 others—including seven children—were treated for injuries.
Eyewitnesses reported that a drone launched a missile at the crowd in al-Nuseirat refugee camp. The Israeli military acknowledged a "technical error" during a strike targeting a suspected Islamic Jihad member, which caused the munition to land dozens of meters off-target. The incident is under review.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expressed regret for civilian casualties and said it works to avoid harm to noncombatants “as much as possible.”
Verified footage showed chaotic scenes as dozens rushed to help wounded victims, some of them children. BBC Verify geolocated the video to a street approximately 80 meters southwest of Nuseirat Junior High School, near a local kindergarten.
Satellite imagery taken three weeks prior revealed a tanker truck had previously been parked at the same site, though it remains unclear from the footage what type of weapon struck the area or its origin.
The fatal strike occurred amid intensifying Israeli aerial operations across the Gaza Strip. Civil Defence authorities reported that 19 additional Palestinians died in separate strikes on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that its Rafah field hospital has handled more mass casualty incidents in the past six weeks than in the entire previous year. On Saturday alone, the hospital received 132 wounded patients; 31 succumbed to their injuries. Most had gunshot wounds and said they had been trying to access food distribution sites.
Since new aid sites were established on 27 May, the hospital has treated more than 3,400 weapon-related injuries and logged over 250 deaths, surpassing prior annual totals. The ICRC highlighted the “alarming frequency and scale” of such events as emblematic of Gaza’s dire humanitarian crisis.
On Saturday, Nasser Hospital reported 24 fatalities near an aid distribution center, where witnesses alleged Israeli forces opened fire. The IDF stated there were “no known injured individuals” from Israeli fire at that location but later clarified that warning shots had been fired at perceived threats.
The UN Human Rights Office reported 789 fatalities linked to aid-related activity, with 615 occurring near facilities operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which are backed by the US and Israel. The remaining 183 were recorded around UN and other aid convoys.
The Israeli military acknowledged incidents involving civilian harm and reiterated efforts to minimize friction between residents and its forces. GHF rejected UN figures as “false and misleading,” attributing the data to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities. CEO Johnnie Moore said not all casualties near GHF sites could be conclusively linked to their operations.
Foreign journalists, including BBC staff, remain barred from entering Gaza by Israeli authorities.
Israel's offensive began in response to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, which left around 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 abducted. The Hamas-run health ministry reports that at least 57,882 Palestinians have since died.
Most residents in Gaza have faced repeated displacement. More than 90% of housing is either damaged or destroyed, and the region's essential services—including healthcare, water, and sanitation—are collapsing amid widespread shortages.
This week, 75,000 liters of fuel were allowed into Gaza for the first time in 130 days—an amount the UN called grossly insufficient. Nine UN agencies warned the fuel crisis had reached "critical levels," threatening hospitals, water treatment, sanitation infrastructure, and food production.
“Hospitals are already going dark. Neonatal and intensive care units are shutting down, and ambulances can no longer operate,” the UN said.
Source: BBC
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