Israeli airstrike hits tents housing displaced people, killing at least 8

Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike hit a cluster of tents housing displaced people, killing at least eight people.

The strike occurred Wednesday near the central town of Deir al-Balah, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken. Another 10 people were wounded.

An Associated Press reporter at the hospital saw the casualties arrive.

The dead included two brothers, 6 and 17 years old. Their mother could be seen crying as the teenager’s body was taken to the morgue, saying, “He’s alive!” Later, she could be seen cradling her two sons.

Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but Palestinians say nowhere is safe more than 10 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

Around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are crowded into a narrow area of squalid tent camps along the coast. Israeli evacuation orders cover nearly 90% of the besieged territory, according to U.N. agencies.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 40,534 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.