An Israeli airstrike on a funeral in the central Gaza Strip killed at least seven people and wounded 22 on Friday, while separate attacks across the besieged coastal territory left five others dead, according to local health officials.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a base belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, adding that it was aware civilians may have been harmed in the strike.
The Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp said the casualties occurred during the funeral of a Palestinian who had been killed in an earlier Israeli strike on Friday. That earlier attack killed two people. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas member but provided no further details.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli strikes and gunfire killed five more people Friday, including two women, in northern Gaza, Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to local health officials.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that has been at odds with Israel, called the strike on the funeral “a heinous crime.”
Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in October aimed at halting the two-year war.
The heaviest fighting has subsided, but at least 1,123 people have been killed in Gaza since the cease-fire took effect, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, which has been part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are considered generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Women and children account for most of the dead.
Israel says its strikes are in response to Hamas’ cease-fire violations.
In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its strikes across Gaza, targeting people in vehicles, tents, buildings and on the streets. It says it is targeting Hamas and other groups, but civilians have also been killed.
According to the independent monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, Israel carried out 40 attacks in June, the highest monthly total since the ceasefire began.
The war began with the Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,264 Palestinians, including those killed since the cease-fire took effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
