In brief
Israeli planes targeted a residential building in Gaza City, killing a young mother, her husband, and four children, according to local medics. Video footage captured the apartment ablaze. The Israeli military insists the target was a Hamas operative, while U.N. officials warned that civilian casualties are escalating. The strike followed a series of air attacks that have left over 1,100 civilians dead since the ceasefire. The U.N. calls the situation still unsafe and urges Israel to respect international humanitarian law.
On 21 July, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza City’s western al‑Sabra neighbourhood claimed the lives of a young mother, her husband and their four children, local medics report.
Video footage showed the apartment ablaze overnight. The husband of Firas al‑Masri, who survived the attack was survived by his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters, Amira, Salma, and Faryal, as well as their son, Naim.
The Israeli military maintains that the target was a Hamas operative and is still reviewing the outcome of the attack. In contrast, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the intensification of Israeli attacks, stressing that the ceasefire reached on 9 October has failed to provide safety for civilians in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Hamas‑run health ministry, at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire. The Israeli Army still reports four soldier casualties in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
UN officials noted that between 13 and 20 July, at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women, were killed in strikes on residential buildings, a tent camp for displaced families and other crowded areas. Thirty‑four of those casualties occurred beyond the so‑called Yellow Line that marks territory controlled by Israel.
"Nine months after the ceasefire announcement, still, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza," the U.N. spokesman, Thameen Al‑Kheetan, warned. "The killing of civilians raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and possible atrocity crimes in Gaza.”
Israel’s recent campaign was launched in response to the Hamas‑led attack on Israel 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Since then, over 73,290 people have been reported killed in Gaza, the territory’s health ministry states.
