Gaza City: An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday evening claimed the lives of two Palestinians and injured several others to the west of Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip. According to WAFA correspondent, the airstrike targeted a tent sheltering displaced individuals, resulting in the death of two civilians and causing injuries to others. The victims and those injured were transported to Kuwait Specialized Hospital, a field facility providing medical aid.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, another civilian died from wounds sustained earlier due to Israeli bombing in the same area. In other incidents, an Israeli combat drone fired upon civilians in the Zaytoun and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods, south of Gaza City, causing multiple casualties. Additionally, Israeli artillery shelling injured a civilian near Shawa Square, east of Gaza City, while further shelling targeted As-Sikka Street, east of the Zeitoun neighborhood, and a series of airstrikes hit Beit Hanoun town in the northern Strip.
The escalation followed Israel’s unilateral decision to end the Gaza ceasefire agreement and resume military actions on Tuesday, March 18. This renewed aggression has led to a series of intense airstrikes across the Strip, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, including over 100 children. Medical sources reported that the death toll has reached at least 2,780, with 7,680 individuals wounded. In the past 24 hours alone, 46 bodies, including 31 retrieved from rubble, and 73 casualties were brought to hospitals in the region.
The resumption of hostilities has intensified concerns regarding the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, exacerbated by an ongoing siege and restrictions on the entry of medical and humanitarian aid. Since October 2023, Israeli military operations have resulted in the deaths of 52,908 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, and injuries to 119,721 others. Furthermore, approximately 10,000 people remain unaccounted for, presumed dead beneath the rubble of their homes.
The Israeli military campaign has also caused the displacement of nearly two million people from across the Gaza Strip. Most of these displaced individuals have been forced into the heavily populated southern city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, marking the largest mass exodus in Palestine since the 1948 Nakba.
