Children queuing at Gaza health center killed in Israeli strike, medics say
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Israeli strike kills 10 children queuing at Gaza medical clinic, officials say
Israel’s military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led 7 October attack. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured bystanders and that the incident was under review. Israel and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Thursday he was hopeful of a deal. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving services operating. Doctors said there are now four or five premature babies in one incubator at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, adding that that premature babies are now in a critical condition. Israeli military said that fuel destined for hospitals in the enclave was destined for other humanitarian facilities in the region. Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, many of them civilians, according to local health authorities, putting an enormous strain on the enclave’s few remaining hospitals.
Ten children are among the 16 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike when they were waiting for care outside a medical clinic in Gaza, according to local authorities.
The strike in Deir al-Balah on Thursday – which aid groups have called a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law” – comes as ceasefire talks continue to drag on with no immediate deal expected.
Bodies of women and children lying in pools of blood amid dust and screaming are seen in video footage verified by Reuters, with one clip showing several motionless children lying on a donkey cart.
A distraught mother is pictured sitting by the body of her daughter, who was killed in the blast, with other bodies laid out around her at a nearby hospital.
The mother, Samah al-Nouri, said: “She didn’t do anything, she was innocent, I swear. Her dream was for the war to end and that they announce it today, to go back to school. She was only getting treatment in a medical facility. Why did they kill them?”
Youssef Abd Rabbo weeps at the hospital where the body of his mother Manal was taken together with 10 more people killed in an Israeli strike while they were waiting to receive nutritional supplements at the Project Hope-run medical clinic (AP)
Israel’s military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led 7 October attack. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured bystanders and that the incident was under review.
US-based Project HOPE said the strike had hit right outside its Altayara health clinic. “Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore,” the aid group said in a statement.
The aid group’s president and CEO, Rabih Torbay, said: “Project HOPE’s health clinics are a place of refuge in Gaza where people bring their small children, women access pregnancy and postpartum care, people receive treatment for malnutrition, and more. Yet, this morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open.
“Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza, even as ceasefire talks continue. This cannot continue. Project HOPE urgently calls for an immediate ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, and a dramatic scale-up of aid to meet the urgent needs of Gaza’s civilian population.”
The Deir al-Balah missile strike came as Israeli and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce.
A senior Israeli official said on Wednesday that an agreement was not likely to be secured for another week or two, however, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Thursday he was hopeful of a deal.
“I think we’re closer, and I think perhaps we’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while,” Mr Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.
Smoke and fire rise to the sky following an Israeli bombardment on the northern Gaza Strip (AP)
Several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough since the Israeli military resumed its campaign in March following a previous ceasefire.
Repeated attacks by Israeli forces in recent weeks have killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, many of them civilians, and injured thousands, according to local health authorities, putting an enormous strain on the enclave’s few remaining hospitals.
Dwindling fuel supplies risk further disruption in the semi-functioning hospitals, including incubators at the neonatal unit of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors there said.
“We are forced to place four, five or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator,” said Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia, the hospital director, adding that premature babies are now in a critical condition.
An Israeli military official said that fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities was let into the enclave on Wednesday and on Thursday.
However, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving and life-sustaining services operating.
Israel PM sets out red lines for lasting end to war in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said disarming and neutralising Hamas were ‘fundamental conditions’ for Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said “progress has been made’ but ironing out ‘all complex issues’ would likely take ‘a few more days’ Hamas has agreed to free 10 of the 20 hostages still alive in captivity since the Oct 7, 2023, attack which sparked the war. Hamas’ demand for the free flow of aid into Gaza and Israel’s military withdrawal from the territory are sticking points. Israel announced this year that the army was seizing large areas of Gaza to be incorporated into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants. Most of Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the start of the conflict on October 2023. Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas militant who had infiltrated Israel during the attack and that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals”. Hamas-run health ministry said at least 251 hostages were seized in the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said disarming and neutralising Hamas were “fundamental conditions” for Israel.
JERUSALEM – Israel is ready to negotiate a lasting deal with Hamas to end the Gaza war when a temporary halt to hostilities begins, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on July 10 .
But Mr Netanyahu said the Islamist militants must first give up their weapons and their hold on the Palestinian territory, warning that failure to reach a deal on Israel’s terms would lead to further conflict.
His comments as Gaza’s civil defence agency said eight children – killed as they queued for nutritional supplements outside a health clinic – were among 66 people who died in Israeli strikes across the territory on July 10.
The UN children’s agency said one victim was a one-year-old boy who according to his mother had uttered his first words only hours earlier.
Efforts to secure a 60-day halt in the 21-month war have dominated Mr Netanyahu’s talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington.
Indirect negotiations have been taking place between the two sides in Qatar, and the militants have agreed to free 10 of the 20 hostages still alive in captivity since the Oct 7, 2023, attack which sparked the war.
Sticking points include Hamas’ demand for the free flow of aid into Gaza and Israel’s military withdrawal from the territory . It also wants “real guarantees” on a lasting peace, the group said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said “progress has been made” but admitted in an interview with Austrian newspaper Die Presse that ironing out “all complex issues” would likely take “a few more days”.
There was no agreement on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages, he told the newspaper.
He said that “initially, eight hostages are to be released, followed by two more on the 50th day” of the 60-day ceasefire. “Additionally, 18 bodies of hostages are to be handed over,” he was quoted as saying.
Mr Saar said a lasting ceasefire would be discussed but added: “There are still major differences, especially regarding the question of how Hamas will be prevented from controlling Gaza after the war.”
He said Israel was ready to grant Hamas leaders safe passage into exile.
‘Fundamental conditions’
Mr Netanyahu, who is under domestic pressure to end the war as military casualties mount, said disarming and neutralising Hamas were “fundamental conditions” for Israel.
“If this can be achieved through negotiations, great,” he said. “If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will have to achieve it through other means, by using… the force of our heroic army.”
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told AFP that it would not accept “the perpetuation of the occupation of our land” or Palestinians being herded into “isolated enclaves” in the densely populated territory.
The group was particularly opposed to Israeli control over Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and the so-called Morag Corridor between the southern city and Khan Younis, he added.
Israel announced this year that the army was seizing large areas of Gaza to be incorporated into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.
Mr Naim said the group also wanted to end the delivery of aid by a US and Israel-backed group, a system which has seen scores of people killed while seeking food rations .
Blood and screams
The Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said eight children were among 17 people killed in an Israeli strike outside a medical clinic in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“The ground shook beneath our feet and everything around us turned into blood and deafening screams,” said Mr Yousef Al-Aydi, who was in the queue for nutritional supplements when he heard a drone approaching then a blast.
Mr Rabih Torbay, the head of US medical charity Project Hope which runs the facility, called it “a blatant violation of humanitarian law”.
Israel’s military said it had struck a Hamas militant in the city who had infiltrated Israel during the 2023 attack and that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals”.
Overall, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 57,762 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the start of the conflict.
Hamas’ October 2023 attack led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
A total of 251 hostages were seized in the attack. Forty-nine are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. AFP
Israeli strike kills 10 children queuing outside medical centre in Gaza
The attack occurred at a medical centre run by Project Hope when people gathered to collect nutritional supplements and receive medical treatments. The facility has been shut down until further notice. The Israeli military said that the strikes were intended to target a Hamas terrorist who was involved in the October 7 attack. Israel has stepped up its attacks and expanded ground operations in Gaza, while talks continue in Doha to reach a truce, free hostages, and bring in more aid. The Palestinian health ministry has said that Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 67 other people in the past 24 hours.
A Palestinian woman comforts a child as casualties are brought into Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an Israeli strike, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, July 10, 2025. REUTERS
Fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed 15 people, including 10 children, as they queued outside a health centre in the city of Deir Al Balah, medical staff and other officials present in the region have said.
The attack occurred at a medical centre run by Project Hope when people gathered to collect nutritional supplements and receive medical treatments. The facility has been shut down until further notice.
“This morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” Project Hope’s Chief Executive Rabih Torbay said.
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The Israeli military said that the strikes were intended to target a Hamas terrorist who was involved in the October 7 attack. “The (Israel Defense Forces) is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals in the area. The incident is under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry has said that Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 67 other people in the past 24 hours.
Israel has stepped up its attacks and expanded ground operations in Gaza, while talks continue in Doha to reach a truce, free hostages, and bring in more aid.
On the other hand, Hamas has been conducting guerrilla-style attacks against the Israeli military, with the Palestinian terror group killing at least 20 Israeli soldiers in different parts of the strip over the same period.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was ready to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Gaza during a 60-day truce but only if the Palestinian territory was demilitarised.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas began indirect talks in Doha on Sunday to try to agree a temporary halt in the war, which was sparked by the militant group’s October 2023 attack.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has proposed a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the 20 living hostages still in Gaza, Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
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“At the beginning of this ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end to the war,” he said in a video message from Washington on Thursday.
With inputs from agencies
Israeli Strike Kills 10 Children Queuing At Gaza Medical Clinic
Israel’s military said it targeted a militant involved in the October 7 Hamas-led attack, acknowledging reports of civilian injuries and stating the incident is under review. Video footage from the strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip showed the bodies of women and children lying in pools of blood amid dust and screaming. Several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough since the Israeli military resumed its campaign in March. Israel has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. It has destroyed swathes of the territory and told civilians to leave the territory for 11 weeks and leave the Gaza Strip for two months. Israel will begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire if the two sides reach an agreement on the U.S.-brokered 60-day truce plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. Israeli military official said that fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities was let into the enclave on Wednesday and Thursday. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving and life-sustaining services operating.
An Israeli airstrike struck Palestinians near a medical centre in Gaza on Thursday, killing six adults and 10 children, according to local health authorities, as ceasefire negotiations continued without signs of an imminent agreement.
Verified video footage from the strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip showed the bodies of women and children lying in pools of blood amid dust and screaming. One clip showed several motionless children lying on a donkey cart.
“She didn’t do anything, she was innocent, I swear. Her dream was for the war to end and that they announce it today, to go back to school,” said Samah al-Nouri, sitting by the body of her daughter, who was killed in the blast.
“She was only getting treatment in a medical facility. Why did they kill them?” she said, with other bodies laid out around her at a nearby hospital.
‘Horryfic’
Israel’s military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured bystanders and that the incident was under review.
U.S.-based Project HOPE said the strike had hit right outside its Altayara health clinic. “Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore,” the aid group said in a statement.
The Deir al-Balah missile strike came as Israeli and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce.
A senior Israeli official said on Wednesday that an agreement was not likely to be secured for another one or two weeks; however, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he was hopeful of a deal.
“I think we’re closer, and I think perhaps we’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while,” Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.
Several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough since the Israeli military resumed its campaign in March following a previous ceasefire.
Repeated attacks by Israeli forces in recent weeks have killed hundreds of Gazans, many of them civilians, and injured thousands, according to local health authorities, putting an enormous strain on the enclave’s few remaining hospitals.
Fuel Running Out
Dwindling fuel supplies risk further disruption in the semi-functioning hospitals, including incubators at the neonatal unit of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, doctors there said.
“We are forced to place four, five or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator,” said Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia, the hospital director, adding that premature babies were now in a critical condition.
An Israeli military official said that fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities was let into the enclave on Wednesday and on Thursday.
However, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving and life-sustaining services operating.
Talks
U.S. President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to discuss the situation in Gaza amid reports that Israel and Hamas were nearing agreement on a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal after 21 months of war.
Netanyahu said that if the two sides reach an agreement on the U.S. 60-day truce plan, Israel will begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.
In a statement from Washington, he reiterated Israel’s terms for ending the war, including Hamas disarming and no longer ruling Gaza. Hamas has rejected calls to lay down its weapons.
“If this can be achieved through negotiations – that’s good. If it’s not achieved through 60-day negotiations, then we will achieve it by other means, by use of force,” Netanyahu said.
A Palestinian official said the talks in Qatar were in crisis and that issues under dispute, including whether Israel would continue to occupy parts of Gaza after a ceasefire, had yet to be resolved.
The two sides previously agreed to a ceasefire in January, but it did not lead to a deal on ending the war, and Israel resumed its military assault two months later, stopping all aid supplies into Gaza for 11 weeks and telling civilians to leave the north of the tiny territory.
Gaza Offensive
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. It has destroyed swathes of the territory and driven most Gazans from their homes.
The Hamas attack on Israeli border communities that triggered the war in 2023 killed around 1,200 people, and the militant group seized 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. At least 20 are believed to still be alive.
There has also been repeated violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. An Israeli man was killed at a shopping centre in the territory on Thursday by two Palestinian militants, who were then shot dead, police said.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot dead after he stabbed and injured a soldier, the army said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Israeli strike kills at least 10 children queueing for medical treatment in Gaza
At least 15 people, including 10 children, have been killed by an Israeli strike as they queued outside a medical point in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas terrorist who had participated in the 7 October 2023 attack, but “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals” Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 67 other people across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including 15 people in five separate strikes in Gaza City. Israel is demanding that it be allowed to resume military activity in Gaza after the ceasefire, while Hamas wants assurances that Israel will not restart fighting. Israel has demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas and its departure from Gaza, something the militant group has refused. A previous ceasefire broke down in March after Israel decided to renew fighting instead of progressing to a second stage of the deal that could have led to a permanent end to the conflict. The US president, Donald Trump, expressed optimism for a ceasefire deal, saying there was a ‘very good chance’ of a deal being reached this week or next.
The uptick in Israeli bombing came as negotiators said a Gaza ceasefire deal was in sight, but not yet achieved.
The strike on Thursday morning hit families waiting for nutritional supplements and medical treatment in front of a medical point in Deir al-Balah, medical sources said. Project Hope, which runs the facility, said operations at the clinic had been suspended until further notice.
“This morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” said Rabih Torbay, the NGO’s chief executive.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas terrorist who had participated in the 7 October 2023 attack, but “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals” and that the incident was under review.
“What was our fault? What was the fault of the children?” asked 35-year-old Mohammed Abu Ouda, who had been waiting for supplies when the strike happened. “I saw a mother hugging her child on the ground, both motionless – they were killed instantly.”
Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 67 other people across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry, including 15 people in five separate strikes in Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Hamas agreed to release 10 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire and the US president, Donald Trump, expressed optimism for a ceasefire deal, saying there was a “very good chance” of a deal being reached this week or next.
Qatar, which is helping to mediate the indirect ceasefire talks, cautioned that a deal could take time, as there are still key stumbling blocks. Israel is demanding that it be allowed to resume military activity in Gaza after the ceasefire, while Hamas wants assurances that Israel will not restart fighting.
On Thursday afternoon in Washington, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said if the two sides reach agreements on the US 60-day truce plan, Israel will begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire. He reiterated Israel’s terms for ending the war, including Hamas disarming and no longer ruling Gaza.
A previous ceasefire broke down in March after Israel decided to renew fighting instead of progressing to a second stage of the deal that could have led to a permanent end to the conflict. Israel has demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas and its departure from Gaza, something the militant group has refused.
Residents on Thursday reported Israeli tanks and bulldozers advancing towards encampments hosting displaced people south-west of Khan Younis, with Israeli soldiers opening fire and throwing teargas at the encampments. People began to flee the area amid the attacks, carrying mattresses and whatever belongings they could take with them amid scorching heat.
Q&A Why is it so difficult to report on Gaza? Show Coverage of the war in Gaza is constrained by Israeli attacks on Palestinian journalists and a bar on international reporters entering the Gaza Strip to report independently on the war. Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza since 7 October 2023, unless they are under Israeli military escort. Reporters who join these trips have no control over where they go, and other restrictions include a bar on speaking to Palestinians in Gaza. Palestinian journalists and media workers inside Gaza have paid a heavy price for their work reporting on the war, with over 180 killed since the conflict began. The committee to protect journalists has determined that at least 19 of them “were directly targeted by Israeli forces in killings which CPJ classifies as murders”. Foreign reporters based in Israel filed a legal petition seeking access to Gaza, but it was rejected by the supreme court on security grounds. Private lobbying by diplomats and public appeals by prominent journalists and media outlets have been ignored by the Israeli government. To ensure accurate reporting from Gaza given these restrictions, the Guardian works with trusted journalists on the ground; our visual teams verify photo and videos from third parties; and we use clearly sourced data from organisations that have a track record of providing accurate information in Gaza during past conflicts, or during other conflicts or humanitarian crises. Emma Graham-Harrison, chief Middle East correspondent Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, one of the last functioning hospitals in southern Gaza, reported a large influx of wounded people over the past 24 hours. A picture sent by a member of the medical staff showed Israeli tanks stationed on the edge of tent encampments surrounding the hospital.
The staff member sent a video of a piece of twisted shrapnel that flew into the window of the intensive care unit from a nearby strike, which they said was still hot to the touch.
View image in fullscreen Displaced Palestinians flee Khan Younis amid an Israeli ground offensive. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters
On Tuesday, Hamas killed five Israeli soldiers, a rare deadly incident, after the militants targeted them with explosive devices in northern Gaza.
The war in Gaza started after Hamas-led militants killed more than 1,200 people on 7 October 2023, prompting retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. Israeli military operations have killed more than 57,000 people in Gaza and created famine-like conditions as the country restricts humanitarian aid into the territory.
More than 500 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces while trying to access food distribution sites run by the US- and Israeli-backed logistics group the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Israel backed the GHF after accusing Hamas of stealing aid under the UN aid system, something for which humanitarians say there is little evidence.
Aid groups have condemned the GHF, saying it could be complicit in war crimes and that it violates core principles of humanitarianism. The GHF said it had provided more than 69m meals and that other organisations “stand by helplessly as their aid is looted”.
At least three people were killed by Israeli gunfire while trying to access a distribution centre in Rafah, a civil defence official told AFP.
With Agence France-Presse