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An Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip killed at least 19 people, Palestinian medical officials said Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed back to the region reeling from the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Kamal Adwan Hospital said it received the bodies after the overnight strike in the town of Beit Lahiya. Hospital records show that a family of eight were among those killed, including four children, their parents and two grandparents.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has waged a renewed offensive against Hamas militants in northern Gaza since early October.
Another strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least seven people, according to al-Awda Hospital. Records show the dead included two children, their parents and three relatives.
Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since Assad’s ouster.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people, including children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials. They say women and children make up more than half the dead but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
