Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 32, Mostly Women and Children, Amid Renewed Offensive
April 6, 2025 — Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight into Sunday claimed at least 32 lives, with local health officials reporting that over a dozen of the victims were women and children. The strikes, part of a renewed military campaign following the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas last month, hit multiple targets, including residential areas, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump to discuss the escalating conflict.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry and hospital records, the deadliest strikes occurred in the southern city of Khan Younis, where a tent and a house were hit, killing 15 people—five men, five women, and five children—as confirmed by Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. In northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, Israeli shelling killed at least four, while a strike in Gaza City targeted people waiting outside a bakery, leaving six dead, including three children, per the Hamas-run civil defense. Another seven bodies, including a child and three women, were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah after a central Gaza strike. The ministry noted that the death toll could rise as rescue efforts continue amid rubble and disrupted communications.
Israel’s military stated the strikes targeted Hamas militants, claiming it has killed around 20,000 fighters since the war began, though it provided no specific evidence for these latest actions. The offensive, relaunched to pressure Hamas into a new truce and hostage release deal, has also seen Israel block food, fuel, and humanitarian aid into Gaza for over a month, deepening a crisis the United Nations has called “desperate.” The war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 and took 251 hostages, has now claimed over 50,695 Palestinian lives, with the Health Ministry saying more than half are women and children, though it doesn’t distinguish combatants from civilians.
The strikes coincide with rare anti-Hamas protests in Jabaliya, where dozens marched against the group’s rule, reflecting growing frustration among Palestinians. In Israel, families of the 59 remaining hostages—24 believed alive—rallied Saturday, urging Trump to intervene. Netanyahu’s U.S. visit, set for Monday, follows his pledge to intensify operations until Hamas is dismantled, a stance that’s drawn both domestic criticism and international alarm over Gaza’s humanitarian toll. As the death count climbs, the conflict shows no sign of abating, with both sides entrenched and civilians bearing the heaviest cost.
