Family killed in Israeli strike in northern Gaza, as aid reaches neighborhood cut off for 75 days

By Mohammed al Sawalihi, Ibrahim Dahman, Tim Lister and Dana Karni, CNN

(CNN) — Eleven people were killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza on Saturday night, including several members of one family, according to hospital authorities.

Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, told CNN that others had been injured in the strike on a house east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

In a statement to CNN, the Israeli military said the strike targeted an “Islamic Jihad terrorist” operating in a building located in the humanitarian area of Deir al-Balah. The military also asserted that the reported number of casualties does not align with their information.

Elsewhere, the Israeli military said that it had conducted a strike on Hamas operatives who were operating “inside a command and control center in the area of Daraj Tuffah” that it said was once a school in northern Gaza City.

Gaza Civil Defense said Sunday that its teams had retrieved six bodies and a number of injured people from the site, which shelters displaced people.

The IDF also reported ground operations in the Beit Lahia area on the northern edge of Gaza, “during which the troops eliminated numerous terrorists and dismantled terror infrastructure sites both above and below ground.”

Gaza’s health ministry says Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the Strip has been subject to intense fire since Saturday.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan, said Sunday that artillery shells had targeted the buildings near the hospital, and bombs were dropped in its courtyards by drones.

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN it was unaware of any strikes or shelling on the hospital on Saturday. But the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the reports of strikes around Kamal Adwan – which has come under frequent fire – as “deeply worrisome.”

However, the WHO said that it had been able to supply 5,000 liters of fuel to the hospital as well as blood supplies and had transferred eight patients to another hospital amid “ongoing hostilities and explosions close to the hospital during the mission.”

A UN convoy with nine trucks was able to reach a neighborhood in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza that had been cut off from assistance for over 75 days. The convoy included two trucks of bottled water and seven of wheat flour and canned food, according to the World Food Programme.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate amid sky-high prices for food.

A producer for CNN witnessed long queues for food at an NGO facility in central Gaza on Saturday.

One woman, Yasra Salem Abu Al-Rous, said she was there to secure food for her children, as she could not afford flour and other basics. “If it weren’t for the charity, the situation would be unbearable,” she said.

Another mother, Aya Al-Batoon, said her daughter’s pre-existing sickness had dramatically worsened during the conflict because of a lack of nutrition.

“Before the war, her weight was about 9.5 kilograms; now, it has dropped to 4 kilograms due to the lack of food and water. Even if food is available, it’s too expensive — we can’t afford it for her,” she said. “Every time I look at her, I feel she won’t live much longer.”

There have been some signs of optimism about a truce between Israel and Hamas that would include the release of hostages but sticking points remain and Israeli forces continue to operate across Gaza.

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