Israel ramps up central Gaza bombing, killing at least 17 people
A Palestinian youth inspects a house destroyed by an overnight Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, Palestine, Nov. 27, 2024. (EPA Photo)


At least 17 Palestinians were killed across Gaza early Thursday as Israel ramped up its bombing of central areas and pushed tanks deeper into the north and south of the territory.

Six people were killed in two separate airstrikes on a house and near the hospital of Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, while four others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a motorcycle in Khan Younis in the south.

In Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, Israeli planes carried out several airstrikes destroying a multi-floor building and hitting roads outside mosques. At least seven people were killed in some of those strikes, health officials said.

Medics said at least two people, a woman and a child, were killed in tank shelling that hit western areas of Nuseirat, while an airstrike killed five others in a house nearby.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, tanks pushed deeper into the northern-west area of the city, residents said.

There has been no Israeli comment on the fighting in Gaza overnight and early Thursday.

Israel's 13-month genocide in Gaza has killed nearly 44,200 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, according to Gaza officials. Vast swathes of the territory are in ruins.

The war was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, incursion that caused around 1,200 deaths and captured more than 250 hostages.

Months of attempts to negotiate a cease-fire have yielded scant progress and negotiations are now on hold. Mediator Qatar has suspended its efforts until the sides are prepared to make concessions.

A cease-fire in the parallel conflict between Israel and Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah took effect before dawn on Wednesday, bringing a halt to hostilities that had escalated sharply in recent months and overshadowed the conflict in Gaza.

Announcing the Lebanon accord on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would now renew his push for an elusive agreement in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas to seize the moment.