By Elham Asaad Buaras
London (The Muslim News) – At least 68 Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded on Saturday following a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, health officials say.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 70 bodies were recovered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in October 2023 to at least 57,338. The number of wounded has risen to 135,957.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads, with rescuers unable to reach them,” the ministry said in a statement.
Medical sources reported that at least 78 people were killed in Saturday’s strikes, including nine near a humanitarian aid distribution hub operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in northern Rafah. Among the victims were three children.
The total number of Palestinians killed at or near GHF aid centres now stands at least 743, as strikes continue to target civilians queuing for food or shelter.
In Khan Younis, four young brothers from the Abu Al-Khair family—identified as Yazan (12), Amjad (10), Muhannad (7), and Muhammad (6)—were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced families. The attack took place in the Al-Shaf’i area, west of the city.
A doctor at Shifa Palestine field hospital described the situation as “catastrophic”, adding: “We are treating dozens of wounded with limited supplies and no safe place for families to go.”
REFUGEE CAMPS AND URBAN CENTRES HIT
Elsewhere in central Gaza, eight people were killed and 18 injured in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Al-Awda Hospital. Three others died in a strike targeting the Al-Sultan water desalination plant in Gaza City.
Six people were killed when a café in Al-Zawaida was hit, while seven more died in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.
Four others, including children, were killed when a home was hit in the same area. In Sheikh Ridwan, three people—including two children—died in another strike on a school sheltering displaced residents.
In Shejaiya, two people were killed near a mosque, while a drone strike on a residential building in Al-Bureij refugee camp claimed the lives of two siblings.
Additional strikes in central Gaza targeted homes in Maghazi camp, killing two people. In Al-Mawasi, western Khan Younis, a Palestinian doctor and his four sons were killed in an airstrike on a tent. In a separate strike nearby, a father and his only son also died.
A woman was shot and killed when Israeli forces opened fire near displaced persons’ tents in the same area.
Later that day, 11 more civilians, including three children, were killed in a strike near an aid distribution point in Rafah.
PREVIOUS DAY’S TOLL
On Friday, at least 64 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, including 20 civilians who were queuing for humanitarian aid. One of the deadliest incidents occurred at the Al-Tahlia Roundabout in eastern Khan Younis, where 15 people were killed and 90 others injured while waiting for food, medics said.
The Health Ministry reported that 138 bodies were brought to hospitals that day, with 625 people injured. Among Friday’s victims were five civilians shot near an aid distribution point in north-western Rafah, and five others killed in separate attacks on gatherings in Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah and Zeitoun neighbourhoods.
Further north, four people were killed in a strike on Jabalia Al-Nazla and a tent shelter in the Saftawi area. Eleven others died in a family home in Jabalia, and eight more—mostly women and children—were killed when a tent near Tiba Towers in Al-Mawasi was struck.
In a nearby incident, three civilians, including two children, died near the British field hospital. Four more civilians were killed when tents along Khan Younis beachfront were targeted. Artillery fire was also reported in displaced persons’ camps in Rafah.
In central Gaza, four people died when a house in Al-Bureij refugee camp was hit overnight. Two others were killed in Nuseirat, and three more died in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood of southern Gaza City following a strike on a family home.
An airstrike also hit a school sheltering displaced residents, though casualties were not immediately confirmed. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported the destruction of multiple residential buildings in northern Khan Younis.
Despite mounting international pressure for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its military operations across Gaza. The Israeli military said on Friday that it now holds “operational control” over around 65% of the territory.
It claimed to have killed more than 100 Palestinian fighters over the past week and said it had conducted over 7,500 airstrikes on targets it described as infrastructure belonging to Palestinian armed groups. However, field reports indicate that the overwhelming majority of those killed have been civilians.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Separately, Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions in Gaza.
According to Israeli media, the country’s Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, recently told Prime Minister Netanyahu that the army cannot control the two million Palestinians living in the enclave.
[Photo: Relatives of the Palestinians who were klled by the Israeli airstrikes that targeted civilian homes in Gaza City, Gaza, killing over 20 Palestinians, including women and children, on July 6, 2025. A funeral ceremony held at Al-Shifa Hospital.Photojournalist: Dawoud Abo Alkas/AA]
