This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/09/israeli-strike-on-gaza-city-residential-block-kills-at-least-officials-say

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Israeli strike on Gaza City residential block killed at least 23, officials say Gaza City strike kills at least 23 as Israel reportedly plans to seize Rafah
(about 4 hours later)
Israeli military says it struck a senior Hamas militant who it claims was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah Search for survivors continues at residential building, amid reports Israeli military preparing to seize entire city in south
Israeli aircraft struck a residential block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated Palestinian territory showed no signs of letting up. At least 23 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a residential building in northern Gaza, as reports emerged that the Israeli military is preparing to seize the entire city of Rafah as part of a newly announced security corridor.
The Al-Ahli hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike, including eight women and eight children, figures confirmed by the territory’s health ministry. Medics at al-Ahli hospital said that the bombing on Wednesday of a four-storey building in the Gaza City suburb of Shijaiyah had killed at least eight women and children, as rescue workers continued to search for survivors into the evening. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior Hamas militant.
The strike hit a four-storey building in the Shijaiyah neighbourhood of Gaza City and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble, according to the health ministry’s emergency service. The civil defence, a rescue group that operates under the Hamas-run government, said other neighbouring buildings were damaged in the strike. According to the UN, nearly 400,000 people have been forced to leave their homes or shelters since Israel decided to abandon a two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas, cutting off aid, food and fuel on 2 March and resuming large-scale bombing two weeks later. A total of 1,500 people have been killed and 3,700 injured since then, according to the local health ministry.
The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas militant who it said was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah. It did not name him or provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of civilians on the militant group, because it embeds itself in dense urban areas. Earlier this week, Hamas fired its strongest volley of rockets into Israel since the ceasefire collapsed, aiming 10 projectiles toward the southern city of Ashkelon that injured 12 people.
As it ratchets up pressure on Hamas to agree to free hostages, Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders in parts of Gaza, including Shijaiyah. It has imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it. Israeli officials say the renewed military campaign is aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued sweeping evacuation orders amid a vow from the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to “divide up” and seize large swathes of the territory.
Earlier this week, Hamas fired its strongest volley of rockets since the ceasefire collapsed, aiming 10 projectiles toward southern Israel. On Wednesday, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the IDF was preparing to incorporate the entire city of Rafah and its surroundings – one-fifth of the entire Gaza Strip – into the new “Morag corridor” between Rafah and Khan Younis. Such a move would cut off Gaza from Egypt and turn the territory into an enclave completely surrounded by Israel.
Israel resumed its war against Hamas in Gaza last month after an eight-week ceasefire collapsed. The ceasefire brought a much-needed reprieve from the fighting to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza and sent an infusion of humanitarian aid to the territory. It also led to the release of 25 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the remains of eight others, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The report has renewed fears of permanent displacement for the strip’s 2.3 million residents and inflamed worries that Israel intends to establish permanent control of the Palestinian territory.
Sign up to First EditionSign up to First Edition
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion
Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the door for talks on the war’s end, something the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he will not agree to until Hamas is defeated. Hamas wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which Israel says 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, were killed and a further 250 taken captive. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 50,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The war, which was sparked by Hamas’s 7 Ocober 2023 attacks on southern Israel, has brought the deadliest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in their history. It has ignited a humanitarian crisis in already impoverished Gaza and has sent shock waves across the region and beyond. Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the door for talks on ending the conflict, but Netanyahu, under pressure from rightwing allies, says Israel will not agree to stop fighting until Hamas is defeated. Hamas wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Netanyahu travelled to Washington this week to meet President Donald Trump, and the leaders’ public statements offered sympathy for the plight of the hostages but shed little light on any emerging deal to suspend the fighting. Netanyahu this week travelled to the US – Israel’s most important political and military ally – to meet Donald Trump, who has said he wants the war to end. He has suggested expelling Gaza’s population either voluntarily or by force. While Israel has embraced Trump’s vision, the rest of the Middle East and the international community have refused to entertain the idea.
Trump has said he wants the war to end. But his postwar vision for Gaza – taking it over and relocating its population – has stunned Middle East allies, who say any talk of transferring the Palestinian population, by force or voluntarily, is a non-starter. Israel has embraced the idea. The Associated Press contributed to this report
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under pressure from his far-right political allies to continue the war until Hamas is crushed, an aim Israel has yet to achieve 18 months into the conflict.
The war has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to its health ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
Hamas killed 1,200 people during its 7 October attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.