DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across Gaza on Friday that local health officials said killed 108 people, mostly women and children, and which Israeli officials described as a prelude to a stepped-up campaign to pressure Hamas to release hostages.
Israel also struck two ports in Yemen that it said were used by the Houthi militant group to transfer weapons. Local health officials said at least one person was killed and nine injured.
The strikes across the Gaza Strip followed days of attacks that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and came as US President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to the region that included stops in three Gulf states but not Israel.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday. (AP)
There had been widespread hope that Trump’s trip could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months. The Trump administration is also trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, which backs several anti-Israel militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.
Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on the final day of his trip, Trump said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza. “We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “And we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are — there’s a lot of bad things going on.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said 31 children and 27 women were killed and hundreds more wounded in Friday’s airstrikes.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Friday. (AP)
In southern Gaza, Israel struck the outskirts of Deir Al-Balah and the city of Khan Younis. It said it hit anti-tank missile posts and military structures.
Three children and their grandfather were killed as they fled bombardment in Khan Younis, said the head of pediatrics at Nasser Hospital, Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra.
In northern Gaza, the attacks sent people fleeing from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Israel said it eliminated several militants who were operating in an observation compound.
Dark smoke was seen rising over Jabaliya as people fled on donkey carts, by car and foot.
“We got out of the house with difficulty, killing and death, we did not take anything,” said Feisal Al-Attar, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.
After the strikes on Yemen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “There will be more to come.” The Israeli military, which attacked Houthi targets earlier this month, said it had intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen toward Israeli airspace during Trump’s visit to the region.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike near Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Friday. (AP)
An Israeli official said the latest strikes in Gaza were part of the lead-up to a larger operation that it warned would begin soon if Hamas doesn’t release the 58 hostages still in Gaza since the group’s October 2023 attack that launched the war. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to escalate pressure on Hamas with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades. In comments released by his office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Friday that strikes in Gaza earlier in the week targeted the presumed leader of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar, although there has been no word on his fate. He is the brother of the slain former leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar — a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
‘Heavy hearts’
In Israel, a group that supports the families of hostages said they awoke Friday with “heavy hearts” to reports of increased attacks and called on Netanyahu to “join hands” with Trump’s efforts to free hostages. On Monday, Israeli-American Edan Alexander was released after backdoor US-Hamas diplomacy.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.
Of the hostages that remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.
Gaza blockade enters third month
Dozens of Palestinians in Khan Younis lined up at a charity kitchen Friday in a scene that quickly turned chaotic as the enclave entered its third month of Israel’s aid blockade.
Several children behind a metal partition screamed and cried out for food. At one point, charity kitchen workers struggled to push people back into line.
Some workers were attacked as the crowd surged forward, pressing against the partition and lunging toward the large pots of rice to grab whatever they could.
Israel’s blockade is preventing food, fuel medicine and all other supplies from entering, worsening a humanitarian crisis. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds.
“Our only hope was that Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East would result in solutions and somehow open crossings to bring in humanitarian assistance as soon as possible into the Gaza Strip,” said Saqer Jamal, a displaced man from Rafah who was at the kitchen.
The United Nations announced Friday that 18 kitchens previously closed due to food shortages in Gaza reopened after community members shared remaining food stocks.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization that has US backing to take over aid delivery said it expects to begin operations before the end of the month — after what it describes as key agreements from Israeli officials.
A statement from the group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, identified several US military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors that it said would lead the delivery effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the UN, said they won’t participate because the system does not align with humanitarian principles and won’t be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
