Witnesses and medics in Gaza say an Israeli airstrike on a seaside cafe has killed at least 30 people in Gaza City. And others say Israeli forces killed 22 people when they fired on crowds returning from a food aid site and at a United Nations warehouse. The Israeli military says it is reviewing the incidents. The cafe was one of the few businesses to continue operating during the war. It was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones.
Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire as people headed toward an aid distribution site a kilometer away at around sunrise, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots Monday at "suspects" who approached its forces. The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site.
Two weeks after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect, aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip. The supplies offer relief to a territory suffering from hunger, mass displacement and devastation following 15 months of war. But Palestinians and aid workers say it's still an uphill battle to ensure the assistance reaches everyone. And looming large is the possibility that fighting will resume if the ceasefire breaks down after the six-week first phase. Humanitarian groups say aid distribution is complicated by destroyed or damaged roads, Israeli inspections and the threat of unexploded bombs.
The Israeli military says it has killed Hamas' top leader Yahya Sinwar during a battle in Gaza. Troops appeared to have run across him in a battle on Wednesday, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was the man Israel has hunted for more than a year. Authorities conducted DNA tests on a body to determine if it was him. Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has "settled its account" with Sinwar but "war is not yet ended." There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of Sinwar's death.
Hezbollah has fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, and the militant group's acting leader vows to keep up pressure that has forced thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military says it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday, and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike. Dozens of rockets fired by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned residents to the north of the coastal city to limit activities. The Israeli military says Hezbollah launched more than 170 rockets across the border.
