Gaza, Gaza Strip.- Twenty Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on central Gaza overnight, including six children and three women, according to hospital officials. Some of them were inside the so-called “safe zone” designated by the Israeli army.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army dropped leaflets ordering the evacuation of Gaza City, the largest city in the strip.
Israel has been fighting in surrounding areas in recent days, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee. Hamas militants have been regrouping in areas Israel attacked at the start of the war.
But heavy Israeli bombardment of the territory could be aimed at putting pressure on Hamas in negotiations for a truce. Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been meeting with Israeli officials in Qatar to try to reach a deal.
The second straight night of deadly bombings in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nearby refugee camps coincided with a meeting of mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Israel and Hamas appeared to have moved closer together in recent days, although obstacles remained.
The attacks early Wednesday struck three homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 12 people, including five children, according to officials at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the victims were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.
The camp, like others in Gaza, was originally built to house Palestinians driven from their homes during the 1948 war over Israel’s creation. In the decades since, it has become a developed neighborhood.
A fourth attack early Wednesday killed four men, three women and a child when it hit a house in Deir al-Balah, an area within the “safe humanitarian zone” where Israel has told Palestinians to take shelter as it carries out offensives in several parts of the Gaza Strip.
The overnight bombing came hours after Israeli warplanes struck the entrance to a school housing displaced families on the outskirts of the southern city of Khan Younis. The death toll from that attack rose to 31, including eight children, with more than 50 wounded, officials at the nearby Nasser hospital said on Wednesday.
Images broadcast by Al-Jazeera television showed children playing football in the school yard when a sudden explosion shook the area, prompting cries of “Attack, attack!”
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