GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli military operations killed 32 people across the war-battered territory on Saturday, the latest deaths in nearly 21 months of war.
Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory’s population of more than two million.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Saturday’s dead included eight people killed in two strikes on schools in Gaza City.
Many Gazans have sought shelter in schools and other public buildings since the war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
Bassal also reported that eight people were killed by Israeli fire near an aid distribution center in southern Gaza.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates.
The latest strikes came hours after Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.
An Israeli official told AFP that “no decision has been made yet” when asked about Hamas’s positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal.
It came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s departure for talks on Monday in Washington, where US President Donald Trump has intensified calls for an end to the war.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 57,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
