Description

Photos: Published by Haaretz
Palestinians pray next to the bodies of the Akad family, 16 of whose members were killed in Israeli strikes, on Friday. Credit: AFP/Abed Shat

A girl injured in an Israeli military attack in Gaza City, on Thursday.Credit: Jehad Alshrafi/AP

Palestinians check the devastation in the yard of a destroyed school, a day after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Friday.Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP
____

Among the dead were women and children, and missing family members are still buried under the rubble. The total death toll since Israel renewed its strikes on the Gaza Strip and the cease-fire collapsed on March 18 has reached 1,309

by Jack Khoury for Haaretz
April 5, 2025

Sixty people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said, including 16 members of one family.

According to the statement, 16 members of the Akad family were killed in an attack on a three-story building in Khan Yunis, and among the dead were women and children.

According to local medical sources and Palestinian media in Gaza, recent Israeli strikes have concentrated on the Shujaiyeh neighborhood in eastern Gaza City and the Khan Yunis area in the south.

The Health Ministry added that other family members were buried under the rubble, and rescue efforts at the site are ongoing. The IDF has not yet responded to Haaretz's inquiry about the strike on the building.

The Health Ministry also reported 162 people were wounded in the last 24 hours, and the total death toll since Israel renewed its strikes on the Gaza Strip and the cease-fire collapsed on March 18 has reached 1,309.

The Gaza City municipality announced a disruption in water supply from the Israeli Mekorot company, which provides around 70 percent of the city's and surrounding refugee camps' water consumption.

The disruption, affecting hundreds of thousands, has triggered one of the worst water crises in Gaza since the outbreak of the war. Local engineering teams are attempting to identify the source of the malfunction, but ongoing airstrikes have limited their access. The municipality has appealed to human rights organizations and international bodies to pressure Israel to allow repairs.

According to Al Jazeera, one of the strikes, that killed three and was carried out via drone, targeted a communal kitchen serving residents in western Khan Yunis.

A member of the Akad family, 16 of which were killed in an IDF strike on Khan Yunis in Gaza on Friday, criticized Hamas, saying "Children are dying, and none of them care. May they have mercy on the babies and children."

"May God take revenge on Hamas," he said. His son was gravely wounded in the strike and is suffering from bleeding in his head, he said. "Who will take care of him? Moussa Abu Marzouk or Khalil al-Hayya, who are staying in hotels?" he asked.

Residents of Shujaiyeh told Al Jazeera that dozens of families – including women, children, and the sick – remain in hiding inside homes and tattered tents, fearing to step outside due to the ongoing and unpredictable bombardments. "The drones fire suddenly, and we're helpless," several residents said.

On Friday, the IDF announced that its forces had begun operating in Shujaiyeh, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. According to the army, the operation is aimed at expanding the buffer zone along the border with Israel. The army's statement said that forces killed terror operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure in the area, including a Hamas command center.

Later, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida claimed that half of the living hostages are in areas the Israeli military has sought to evacuate in recent days.

"We decided not to move them from these areas and to keep them under severe security measures, but their lives are at risk. If the enemy is concerned about the lives of these hostages, it must negotiate immediately for their release," he said.

UNRWA said Saturday that 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes since the beginning of the war, many of them more than once. Since Israel renewed its offensive in Gaza mid-March, another 142,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee.

About two weeks ago, the Israeli military launched ground operations in the Gaza Strip to partially block movement between the northern and southern Gaza by expanding part of the buffer zone.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli army is expanding ground operations in Gaza and working to seize additional territory. He called on Gaza residents "to act to remove Hamas and free all the hostages," emphasizing that "this is the only way to end the war."

Later that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the IDF had "shifted gears" in the Gaza Strip and that the forces were seizing territory and destroying infrastructure. In his announcement, Netanyahu said that the IDF will take control of the "Morag route" as part of the division of the Gaza Strip, which will become "another Philadelphi corridor."

The so-called Morag route is named after the Morag settlement, which was located between Khan Yunis and Rafah and evacuated during Israel's 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip. It is expected to run in parallel to the Philadelphi route, a few kilometers north of the land corridor.

A defense source told Haaretz that Netanyahu's statement caught the IDF by surprise, seeing as the plan had not yet been approved and its disclosure could endanger forces in Gaza.
____

IOF Continues Savage Bombardment: Gaza Update 05 April 2025

At least six Palestinians were killed and several others injured following an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Two martyrs were killed when the occupation forces targeted a group of citizens at the entrance to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital (Salah al-Din) in Deir al-Balah. The two martyrs were a father, Salman Mahmoud Abed, and his son Mahmoud.

In Khan Yunis area, two citizens—Kamal Muhammad Jabr and Amjad Mahmoud al-Hamaida—were killed. A young man was also killed and two others were injured when the occupation forces targeted a bicycle in the same area. Artillery shelled the eastern and southern areas of Khan Yunis.

In Khan Yunis, a citizen was killed and others were injured when the occupation forces bombed a vehicle in the Mawasi area, south of the Gaza Strip. A girl was killed as a result of Israeli shelling of the Qizan Rashwan area, southwest of Khan Yunis. Three citizens were killed when the occupation forces targeted a takiya in the center of Khan Yunis.

In Gaza, two citizens were killed and others were injured when the occupation forces bombed a tent for displaced people in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood, southwest of the city.

Three citizens, including two brothers from the Salem family, were killed when the occupation forces targeted a group of citizens on Wadi al-Arayes Street in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. A citizen was also killed after being shot by an Israeli sniper stationed on Al-Muntar Hill, east of the Shujaiya neighborhood.

The occupation army continued to destroy residential areas in Rafah and launched a series of new raids, one of which led to the death of a citizen and the injury of two others when it targeted a house belonging to the Shaat family in the Miraj area, northeast of Rafah.

Medical sources reported that 38 citizens were killed in the Gaza Strip, including 30 in the southern part of the Strip, as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment since dawn today.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 60 martyrs and 162 injuries were admitted to hospitals in the Strip over the past 24 hours.

The death toll and injuries since March 18, 2025, have reached 1,309 martyrs and 3,184 injuries.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 50,669 martyrs and 115,225 injuries.

Features