ISRAELI strikes killed at least 23 people in Gaza overnight into Tuesday, according to Palestinian medics.
The dead include three children and their parents, who were killed in a strike on their tent near the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.
The hospital has received a flood of dead and wounded since Israel resumed its heavy bombardment of Gaza last week, shattering the ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 113,000 since October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.
It comes after one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land was "handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor."
On Monday evening, Hamdan Ballal and two other Palestinians were held at a police station in the occupied West Bank.
Their lawyer, Lea Tsemel, said they had spent the night on the floor of a military base while suffering from serious injuries sustained in the alleged attack.
She had earlier said they were accused of throwing stones at a young settler, allegations they deny.
Palestinian residents say around two dozen settlers — some masked, some carrying guns and some in military uniforms — attacked the West Bank village of Susiya on Monday evening as residents were breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while settlers continued throwing stones, they said.
The Israeli military said on Monday evening that it had detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians — a claim witnesses interviewed by AP disputed.
Lamia Ballal, the director’s wife, said she heard her husband being beaten outside their home as she huddled inside with their three children.
She said she heard him screaming, “I’m dying!” and calling for an ambulance. When she looked out of the window, she said she saw three men in uniform beating Mr Ballal with the butts of their rifles and another person in civilian clothes who appeared to be filming the violence.
“Of course, after the Oscar, they have come to attack us more,” she said. “I felt afraid.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Ballal's fellow co-director Yuval Abraham said he had been released, writing on social media: "Hamdan Ballal is free and is about to go home to his family."
