Mourners held funeral prayers Wednesday morning outside a hospital in central Gaza for 28 people killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes on urban refugee camps. Nineteen people, including five women and nine children, were killed when a strike flattened a family home late Tuesday in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp. Another person was killed in a separate strike in the camp. A strike in the nearby Bureij camp killed eight people, including three women.
The dead were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, the main medical facility in central Gaza. Nuseirat and Bureij are among several dense, built-up refugee camps in Gaza that date back to 1948, when an estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in what is now Israel during the war surrounding its creation. Refugees and their descendants make up a majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
As fighting continues in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains determined to carry out a Rafah ground offensive, despite United States President Joe Biden’s reservations. Qatari officials expressed cautious optimism after talks with Israel’s intelligence chief in Doha aimed at reaching a cease-fire. However, any Israeli ground operation in Rafah could hinder progress in the negotiations.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 31,819 Palestinians have been killed, with women and children accounting for two-thirds of the casualties. The United Nations food agency has issued a warning that famine is imminent in northern Gaza.
In a separate development, Palestinian militants carried out a surprise attack out of Gaza on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people and the abduction of 250 others. Hamas is reportedly holding around 100 people hostage, along with the remains of 30 individuals.
Current updates include Jared Kushner praising the potential of Gaza’s waterfront property, heavy fighting around Gaza’s largest hospital, Netanyahu agreeing to send Israeli officials to Washington for discussions on a prospective Rafah operation, and experts warning of impending famine in Gaza and Haiti.
For more coverage on the Israel-Hamas war, visit AP News.
