20th May, 2025
News desk
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 44 people across Gaza early Tuesday, according to the territory’s civil defence agency, as Israel intensifies its military campaign against Hamas.
“Civil defence teams have transferred at least 44 bodies, mostly women and children, to hospitals, along with dozens of wounded, following new massacres committed by the occupation,” said agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. The strikes reportedly began around 1:00 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Monday).
Among the dead, eight were killed when a school sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza City was struck. A separate strike on a house in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, left 12 dead. In another attack, 15 people were killed at a gas station near the Nuseirat refugee camp, while nine more died in a strike on a home in the Jabalia refugee camp.
The Israeli military has not issued a statement on the reported strikes.
Israel ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Saturday, announcing a new phase aimed at the “defeat of Hamas.” Extensive ground operations began on Sunday across the besieged territory.
The ongoing conflict was triggered by Hamas’s deadly assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,218 people dead — mostly civilians — and saw 251 hostages taken. The Israeli military says 57 of those hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom are believed to be dead.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli strikes have killed at least 3,340 people since operations resumed on March 18. The total death toll in Gaza since the war began now stands at 53,486.
