Deadly missile strike on Rafah

At least 23 people were killed on Thursday when a missile struck a residential building in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The dead and injured were taken to The Kuwaiti Hospital located less than 200 metres from the blast.

More than 21,300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and airstrikes since the war with Hamas broke out, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.

The Israeli army said on Thursday that more than 500 Israeli soldiers, officers and reservists, have been killed since 7 October, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people in the country’s south. 

A Hamas official said on Thursday a “partial or temporary cessation of aggression” would not be enough for them to free more than 100 hostages Israel says remain in captivity in Gaza.

Pressure builds over Israeli hostage situation

Hundreds of young people started marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Sunday to press the government to secure the release of more than 100 hostages who remained in captivity.

The Israeli military took full responsibility on Thursday for the three hostages killed by Israeli troops.

That comes after the IDF published the final findings of a probe into the mistaken hostage killings that took place on 15 December in Gaza City.  

“We are responsible for what happened. We presented the families with the investigation and all the findings that were available to us. Transparently, while striving for the truth, even though it is very difficult and painful,” said IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

Israel’s military claimed it mistook their cries for help as a ruse by Hamas militants to draw them into an ambush.

The three hostages were among the 240 people taken hostage during Hamas’ deadly 7 October attack. 

Israeli offensive expands to central Gaza

Israeli forces bombarded cities, towns and refugee camps across Gaza on Thursday, killing dozens of people in a widening air and ground offensive against Hamas that has forced thousands more to flee from homes and shelters in recent days.

Some 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have now fled their homes.

An Israeli airstrike on a home in the northern town of Beit Lahiyeh buried at least 21 people, according to a witness.

In central Gaza, Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, levelling buildings, residents said. 

Israel said this week it would expand its ground offensive into central Gaza. It typically launches waves of airstrikes and shelling before troops and tanks move in.

A hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah received the bodies of 25 people killed overnight, including five children and seven women, hospital records showed on Thursday.