Israeli Airstrikes Hit Multiple Homes, Kill Dozens as Military Intensifies Operations in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Thursday killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, with multiple homes targeted in the middle of the night. The attacks resulted in the deaths of men, women, and children as they slept, according to local health officials.
Hours later, the Israeli military reinstated a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, restricting movement along the main highway. Residents were warned not to enter or leave the north, with only limited passage to the south permitted via the coastal road.
An additional ground operation was launched in northern Gaza, particularly near Beit Lahiya, a town already devastated by previous strikes. Reports indicate that dozens have been killed in the area within the last 24 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to northern Gaza following a ceasefire that took effect in January. However, heavy Israeli strikes resumed on Tuesday, ending the truce. The Israeli government attributed the renewed offensive to Hamas’s rejection of a proposed agreement that differed from their previously signed ceasefire terms.
More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday alone, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. There have been no confirmed reports of Hamas launching rocket attacks or other offensives since the ceasefire ended.
The Israeli military also reported intercepting a missile launched early Thursday by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels before it reached Israeli airspace. Air raid sirens and explosions were heard in Jerusalem, though no injuries were reported. This marks the second such attack since the United States launched airstrikes against the Houthi rebels earlier this week.
One of the overnight airstrikes targeted the home of the Abu Daqa family in Abasan al-Kabira, a village near Khan Younis. The attack, which occurred in an area Israel had ordered evacuated earlier this week, killed at least 16 people, including a father and his seven children. The parents and brother of a one-month-old baby were also among the dead. The infant survived alongside her grandparents.
Rescue workers continued searching the rubble for survivors. “The house collapsed over the people’s heads,” said Hani Awad, who assisted in the rescue efforts.
The Israeli military claimed it had targeted dozens of militant positions across Gaza and engaged in ground operations for the first time since the ceasefire, seizing a key corridor that divides northern Gaza from the south. Military statements suggest Israeli forces intend to retake full control of the Netzarim corridor, which stretches from the border to the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel has also cut off supplies of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s 2 million residents. The government has vowed to intensify operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it still holds—35 of whom are believed to be dead—and relinquishes control of the territory.
Hamas has stated that it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, in accordance with the January ceasefire agreement mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. The group has expressed willingness to transfer governance to the Palestinian Authority or an independent committee but insists that it will not disarm unless Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that the total death toll from Israeli strikes since Tuesday has risen to 592. The Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya received 19 bodies overnight. “It was a bloody night for the people of Beit Lahiya,” said Fares Awad, head of emergency services in northern Gaza. He described the situation as “catastrophic” as rescuers continued to search the rubble of homes destroyed in the latest strikes.
Beit Lahiya had already suffered extensive destruction in the initial phase of the war before the January ceasefire. On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on a gathering of mourners in the town killed 17 people, according to health officials.
The war began when Hamas-led militants launched an attack into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Most hostages have since been released through ceasefire agreements or rescue missions. Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of several hostages and successfully rescued eight living captives.
The Israeli offensive in response has been among the deadliest in recent history. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, nearly 49,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began. While Israel claims it has eliminated approximately 20,000 militants, it has not provided supporting evidence. The majority of those killed, according to Palestinian health officials, are women and children.
The war has displaced roughly 90% of Gaza’s population and caused widespread destruction. Many of those who returned home after the ceasefire found only ruins where their neighborhoods once stood.
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