Nearly 80 people have been killed in the latest round of Israeli strikes in Gaza – a death toll that doesn’t include hospitals in the battered north that the Hamas-run Health Ministry said are now inaccessible.
The dead over the past 24 hours included nine of a doctor’s 10 children, horrified colleagues and the health ministry said.
Alaa Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family’s house on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital’s pediatric department, told The Associated Press.
Najjar’s husband was severely wounded and their only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after Friday’s strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, Farra said.
Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images
The dead children ranged in age from seven months to 12 years old. Khalil Al-Dokran, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told the AP that two of the children remained under the rubble.
Israel’s military said in a statement that it struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces and described the area of Khan Younis as a “dangerous war zone.” It said it had evacuated civilians from the area, and “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” Earlier Saturday, a statement said Israel’s air force struck over 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day.
Gaza health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, said the new deaths raise the war’s toll to 53,901 since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the 19 months of fighting. The ministry said more than 3,700 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war in March to pressure Hamas to accept different ceasefire terms and release the remaining hostages.
Aid slowly trickling in
The renewed military action against Hamas has also included a blockade of Gaza and its more than 2 million residents since early March. This week, the first small number of aid trucks entered the territory and began reaching Palestinians. But they were far fewer than the about 600 trucks a day that had been entering during the ceasefire.
Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images 
President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has sought a new aid delivery and distribution system by a newly established U.S.-backed group, but the United Nations and partners have rejected it, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon and violates humanitarian principles.
Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning off aid but the U.N. and aid groups deny there is significant diversion.
Israeli military accused of using Palestinians as human shields
Seven Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have also accused Israel’s military of using human shields in Gaza, allegedly sending people into buildings and tunnels to check for bombs and gunmen, the AP is reporting. They said the practice, which is prohibited by international law, has become ubiquitous over 19 months of war.
In March, CBS News reported similar allegations, including from an Israeli soldier whose account of the tactics used in Gaza raised some serious questions.
“We’ve burned down buildings for no reasons, which is violating the international law, of course,” he told CBS News. “…And we used human shields as protection.”
Breaking the Silence via AP 
Ayman Abu Hamadan told the AP he was held for 2 ½ weeks last summer by the Israeli military in northern Gaza, and the only time he wasn’t bound or blindfolded was when he was forced into houses to make sure they were clear of bombs and gunmen.
“They beat me and told me: ‘You have no other option; do this or we’ll kill you,” the 36-year-old told the AP, adding that when one unit was finished with him, he was passed to the next.
In response to the most recent allegations, Israel’s military says it strictly prohibits using civilians as shields — a practice it has long accused Hamas of using in Gaza. Israeli officials blame Hamas for the civilian death toll in its offensive that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
In a statement to the AP, the military said it also bans otherwise coercing civilians to participate in operations, and “all such orders are routinely emphasized to the forces.”
The military said it’s investigating several cases alleging that Palestinians were involved in missions but wouldn’t provide details. It didn’t answer questions about the reach of the practice or any orders from commanding officers.