Gaza Under Fire: Israel Launches Dozens of Air Strikes, Killing 108, Mostly Women and Children

Isreal launched dozens of air strikes across Gaza on Friday, killing 108 people, mostly women and children, according to local health officials. The strikes came as US President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to the region, which included stops in three Gulf states but not Israel. The attacks followed days of attacks that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Trump administration is also trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, which backs several anti-Israel militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.

Key Takeaways:

• 108 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the Israeli air strikes across Gaza on Friday, according to local health officials.
• The strikes targeted the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where three children and their grandfather were killed as they fled bombardment.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "there will be more to come" after the strikes in Yemen, where at least one person was killed and nine injured.
• The latest strikes in Gaza were part of the lead-up to a larger operation that Israel warned would begin soon if Hamas doesn't release the 58 hostages still in Gaza since the group's October 2023 attack.
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that strikes in Gaza earlier in the week targeted the presumed leader of Hamas' military wing in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar.
• Almost 3,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
• Of the hostages that remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.

Statistics:

• 108 people killed in the Israeli air strikes across Gaza on Friday (Gaza Health Ministry).
• 31 children and 27 women among the dead (Gaza Health Ministry).
• Hundreds more wounded in Friday's air strikes (Gaza Health Ministry).
• 130 people killed in days of attacks prior to the Friday air strikes (Gaza Health Ministry).
• 53,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive, many of them women and children (Gaza Health Ministry).
• 3,000 Palestinians killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18 (Gaza Health Ministry).
• 58 hostages still in Gaza since the group's October 2023 attack (Israeli authorities).
• 23 hostages believed to be still alive (Israeli authorities).
• 251 people abducted in the October 7, 2023, attack (Israeli authorities).
• 1,200 people killed in the October 7, 2023, attack (Israeli authorities).

Sources:

• Gaza Health Ministry
• US President Donald Trump
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz
• Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
• Associated Press
• WAFAA SHURAFA, ASSEM MROUE; ASSOCIATED PRESS DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP