Israeli strike on Gaza apartment building kills at least 23, officials
say
[April 09, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli aircraft struck a residential
block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23
people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated
Palestinian enclave showed no signs of letting up.
The Al-Ahly hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike,
including eight women and eight children, figures confirmed by the
territory's Health Ministry.
The strike hit a four-story building in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of
Gaza City and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble,
according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. The civil defense,
a rescue group which operates under the Hamas-run government, said other
neighboring buildings were damaged in the strike.
The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas militant who it said
was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah. It did not name him or
provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of civilians on the
militant group, because it embeds itself in dense urban areas.
As it ratchets up pressure on Hamas to agree to free hostages, Israel
has issued sweeping evacuation orders in parts of Gaza, including for
Shijaiyah. It has imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid
that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It
has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and
establish a new security corridor through it.
Earlier this week, Hamas fired its strongest volley of rockets since the
ceasefire collapsed, lobbing 10 projectiles toward southern Israel.
Israel resumed its war against Hamas in Gaza last month after an
eight-week ceasefire collapsed. The ceasefire brought a much-needed
reprieve from the fighting to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza and sent an
infusion of humanitarian aid to the territory. It also led to the
release of 25 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the
remains of eight others, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian
prisoners.
Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging
agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the
door for talks on the war's end, something Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu says he won't agree to until Hamas is defeated. Hamas
wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds,
24 of whom are believed to be alive.
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Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza
Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP
Photo/Leo Correa)
The war, which was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on
southern Israel, has seen the deadliest fighting between Israelis
and Palestinians in their history. It has ignited a humanitarian
crisis in already impoverished Gaza, and has sent shockwaves across
the region and beyond.
Netanyahu traveled to Washington this week to meet with President
Donald Trump and in their public statements offered sympathy for the
plight of the hostages but shed little light on any emerging deal to
suspend the fighting.
Trump has said he wants the war to end. But his postwar vision for
Gaza — taking it over and relocating its population — has stunned
Middle East allies, who say any talk of transferring the Palestinian
population, by force or voluntarily, is a nonstarter. Israel has
embraced the idea.
Netanyahu meanwhile is under pressure from his far-right political
allies to continue the war until Hamas is crushed, an aim Israel has
yet to achieve 18 months into the conflict.
The war has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according
to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between
combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the
dead are women and children.
Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack, mostly
civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed
in ceasefire deals.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg
contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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