Hamas-run authorities say at least 20 killed in strikes across Gaza

CAIRO, Egypt — Israeli military strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local Hamas-controlled health authorities say.

The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north, and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

In Jabalia, they say local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier in the day.

Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics add.

There is no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office says that Abu Warda’s death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad say in separate statements that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.