Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 16 people, including 3 children

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 16 people, including five women and three children.

Most were killed in strikes overnight and into Wednesday on the southern city of Khan Younis, which has come under heavy bombardment over the past two months. Their bodies were taken to the city’s Nasser Hospital, where an Associated Press journalist confirmed the toll.

The dead include a brother and sister and their relative, who were killed in a strike on their home east of Khan Younis, the hospital said.

Another strike hit a house south of Khan Younis, killing at least five people, including two women, according to the hospital.

First responders resumed search-and-rescue efforts in a house that was flattened by an Israeli strike southeast of Khan Younis late Tuesday. They have recovered six bodies, including three children, a woman and two men, according to the hospital.

In central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike late Tuesday hit an apartment, killing Mohamed Abdrabu, a local journalist, and his sister, said the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies.

The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas, which positions fighters, tunnels and rocket launchers in residential areas. The army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.