Guernsey Press

Israeli strikes on southern Gaza kill at least 15 people overnight

Ten members of one extended family were killed in Beni Suhaila and five people, including three children and a woman, died in Fakhari.

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Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said on Tuesday.

A strike early on Tuesday hit a house in the southern town of Beni Suhaila, killing at least 10 people from one extended family, according to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

The dead included three children and one woman, according to hospital records.

APTOPIX Israel Palestinians
Palestinians look at a burnt-out car after an Israeli strike in Deir al Balah in the Gaza Strip on Monday (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of sheltering in civilian areas.

In the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters on Tuesday.

Adel al-Deqes said his relatives tried to move to another place in Jabaliya in the morning, but the military shelled them.

“We don’t know who died and who is still alive,” he said.

Israel Palestinians
A Palestinian woman comforts a child after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah on Monday (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

He said the military destroyed many buildings in the eastern and northern parts of the camp, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

“They bombed many buildings; some of them empty buildings,” he said.

Graphic showing the Middle East crisis October 13-15
(PA Graphics)

Israel’s air defences have performed well during a year of war against enemies across the region, particularly against rocket and missile attacks. But at times, they have struggled against drones, with unmanned aerial vehicles responsible for several deadly attacks.

The Defence Ministry said it tested a number of technologies being developed by Israeli companies as part of an “expedited process” to find new solutions.

It says it will analyse the results and select several technologies for further development with the aim of deploying them within months.

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