According to medics and members of the Civil Defense, five people were killed on Wednesday evening when an Israeli drone targeted a group of people near a mosque in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Local journalists identified the victims as Abdullah al-Abed (9), Salah al-Abed (12), Mohammed Balousha (14), Alaa Balousha (46) and Anas Abu Foul (19). Their bodies were laid to rest on Thursday morning outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where families said goodbye to the boys.
The Israeli military said it targeted what it said was a "terrorist" who approached soldiers in the so-called Yellow Line, which separates territory controlled by Israeli forces, and posed an imminent threat. Hamas condemned the attack, calling it a "horrific massacre" and accusing Israel of undermining efforts to implement the ceasefire agreement.
The mother of the two boys who died, Abdullah and Salah, Amna al-Abed, described the moment of the attack: "I was woken up by the sound of heavy shelling, so I ran outside. I looked around, but I didn't find my children next to me. I ran out and I found them lying on the ground, like martyrs. My husband was with them, wounded."
A relative of the victim, Mohammed, said: "There is no ceasefire, no truce, no nothing... There is no security anywhere."
The Hamas-run Civil Defense said three more men were killed later Thursday when Israeli artillery hit a car in the Maghazi area of central Gaza. Among the dead was its member Hazem al-Aidi. The Israeli military said it was verifying the reports.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the Gaza Strip since last October. The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 792 Palestinians have been killed and 2,200 wounded in Israeli attacks since then.
Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement. The Gaza war broke out after an attack by Palestinian militants led by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage. In response, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during which, according to the local health ministry, more than 72,560 people were killed.
