An Israeli airstrike struck mourners gathered at a funeral in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, killing at least eight people and injuring 20 others, according to Gaza health officials. The victims had come together to mourn someone who had already been killed by a separate Israeli strike in the same area earlier that day.
When combined with at least three additional Palestinians killed in other Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza enclave, the day’s overall death toll climbed to at least 12, according to medics on the ground.
Hamas denounced the Nuseirat strike as a “brutal massacre” targeting people in mourning, and called on international mediators and the United Nations to take action to stop Israeli military operations in Gaza.
The Israeli military told Reuters it was looking into the request for comment but did not offer an immediate response.
Meanwhile, residents living east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza reported that Israeli forces deployed drones to broadcast audio messages directing them to evacuate their homes. The warnings forced some families to flee in search of safety.
Friday’s deaths add to a growing toll. More than 1,100 Palestinians — the majority of them civilians — have been killed in Israeli strikes since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in October, according to Gaza health officials. Hamas does not typically report its own casualties.
Although the truce brought a halt to large-scale combat operations, Israeli strikes have continued on an almost daily basis. Israel maintains that its operations are aimed at targeting militants. During the same period, four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants inside Gaza.
Conflict monitoring organization ACLED, a U.S.-based research group that tracks political violence around the world, reported that Israeli airstrikes against Hamas and other armed groups surpassed 40 in June — the highest single-month figure recorded since the ceasefire began. The group also noted that additional strikes near the boundary between the two sides have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children.
The current conflict traces back to October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 individuals hostage, according to Israeli figures. The military campaign Israel launched in response has since killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Today, nearly all of Gaza’s approximately 2 million residents are crowded into a narrow coastal strip, living primarily in makeshift tents or damaged structures, in territory under Hamas control.
