Eight more Palestinians killed in Israeli strike

Gaza rescuers said eight people were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory.

"Eight dead (were) transported as a result of an Israeli airstrike" on the home of a local journalist in the Al-Saftawi area north of Gaza City at around 2:00 am (2300 GMT Tuesday), civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the media.

Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza this month, aiming for "the defeat of Hamas", more than 18 months after the group's October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Some 1,218 people were killed in that attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

This picture shows smoke billowing above destroyed buildings during Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory on Tuesday. AFP

The Palestinian group Hamas also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,977, mostly civilians.

Agence France-Presse