Multiple Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis overnight into Thursday, killing at least 54 people in a second consecutive night of intense bombardment, Gaza health officials said. Another airstrike in northern Gaza left over a dozen dead, bringing the Palestinian death toll to more than 53,000 since the war began, reports UNB via AFP.
The latest wave of strikes coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing Middle East visit, which includes meetings with Gulf states but not Israel. Hopes had been high that Trump's presence in the region could help broker a ceasefire or restore humanitarian aid to Gaza, which remains under an Israeli blockade now in its third month.
An Associated Press cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 separate strikes overnight, with numerous bodies transported to Nasser Hospital. Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition, the hospital reported.
Among the dead was Al Araby TV journalist Hasan Samour, who was killed along with 11 members of his family. The Qatari network confirmed the deaths on social media.
The Israeli military has not commented on the latest strikes.
The overnight bombardment followed heavy Israeli air raids on Wednesday that killed at least 70 people across northern and southern Gaza, including nearly two dozen children. In Jabaliya, northern Gaza, a strike hit a complex housing a mosque and a small clinic, killing 13 people, according to Gaza's Civil Defense agency.
Mourning in Khan Younis
At Nasser Hospital, grieving mother Safaa Al-Najjar wept over the bodies of her two youngest sons—Motaz Al-Bayyok, 1.5 years old, and Moaz Al-Bayyok, just 1.5 months. All five of her surviving children were injured, and her husband remains in intensive care.
"I gave them dinner and put them to sleep as usual. Suddenly I don't know what happened; the world went upside down," she sobbed. "What is their fault? What is their fault?"
Outside the hospital, mourners prayed over rows of white-shrouded bodies before they were taken for burial.
Israeli offensive continues
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week vowed to escalate military operations in Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas, the group that governs the Palestinian enclave.
"We are days away from entering Gaza with great strength to complete the mission ... It means destroying Hamas," Netanyahu's office said in a statement Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday warned that Israel's stated plan to seize Gaza and displace hundreds of thousands of residents is "inching closer to extermination," urging international intervention.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages. Since then, Gaza's Health Ministry reports that Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 53,010 Palestinians and wounded 119,998. The ministry does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
According to the latest figures, 82 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours, including the 54 killed in Khan Younis. Hamas still holds 58 hostages from the October 7 attack, with 23 believed to be alive, though Israeli officials have voiced concern over the condition of three of them.
European hospital knocked out of service
Gaza's Health Ministry also confirmed that Israeli strikes have rendered the European Hospital in Khan Younis—Gaza's only remaining cancer treatment center—out of service. Two strikes on Tuesday reportedly targeted a Hamas command center beneath the facility, killing six people.
Hospital director Dr Imad al-Hout said 200 patients were present at the time of the strikes. All have since been evacuated, with the final 90 moved to Nasser Hospital on Wednesday. Repairs to the hospital are being coordinated, he added.
The shutdown halts vital services, including cancer and cardiac treatments.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
Meanwhile, Gaza's humanitarian crisis continues to worsen under the Israeli blockade. In northern Gaza's Beit Lahia, displaced Palestinians queued for hours at a makeshift charity kitchen, hoping for vegetable soup. Many, like Um Abed—displaced with 20 family members—returned empty-handed.
"I have a 3-year-old child who's crying all day because he wants to eat," she said tearfully. "We want them to stop the war and to allow food in."
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), nearly 500,000 Palestinians face possible starvation, and another 1 million are critically food-insecure. The UN and humanitarian groups warn Gaza is on the brink of famine if aid is not urgently restored.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer denied a food shortage on Thursday, claiming Hamas is "holding onto it ... they need to open up the food to the people."
Human Rights Watch reiterated calls for both sides to take immediate humanitarian action—urging Hamas to release remaining hostages and demanding international pressure on Israel to end what it described as the "systematic destruction" of civilian infrastructure.
Israel continues to deny allegations of genocide.
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