Gaza: Israeli airstrikes kill at least 20

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The Gaza Strip Civil Protection reported this Wednesday that at least 20 people were killed, including six children, in two airstrikes launched this morning by Israel against the Palestinian territory.

New Israeli air strikes hit the southern and northern Gaza Strip, the humanitarian organization's spokesman, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was investigating the incidents.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, at least eight people were killed and 30 others were injured in an Israeli bombardment of the Shati refugee camp, located north of Gaza City.

According to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, citing medical sources on the ground, Gaza hospitals recorded four more deaths in attacks in the center and south of the enclave.

The new wave of attacks comes at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the United States.

On Tuesday night, Netanyahu said in a video message that Israel is determined to achieve all its objectives in Gaza, following his second meeting in two days with US President Donald Trump.

The objectives, the prime minister reiterated, include the release of all Israeli hostages and the elimination of Hamas' military and governmental capabilities in the Gaza Strip.

"We will not give up for a moment, and this is possible thanks to the military pressure exerted by our heroic soldiers. Unfortunately, these efforts are coming at a painful price with the loss of our best sons," Netanyahu said.

The leader said he discussed with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance the possibilities opening up in the region following the 12-day conflict with Iran, in which Washington supported Israel by bombing several Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Opportunities are presenting themselves to expand the circle of peace, to expand the Abraham Accords. We are working on this with all our energy,” Netanyahu said.

Hours earlier, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of nine sectors of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, an area home to more than 425,000 people, ahead of the advance of its troops.

“In view of the terrorist activities in the area, the army is expanding its operations through ground force maneuvers and heavy surprise fire,” the army said.

The ongoing war in Gaza was triggered by attacks led by the Palestinian extremist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, which left around 1,200 dead and more than two hundred hostages.

Israel's retaliation has already resulted in more than 57,500 deaths, the destruction of almost all of Gaza's infrastructure and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.