10 Palestinians killed in IDF airstrike near water distribution point in Nuseirat Camp: Medical officials
At least 10 people were killed, including six children, in an airstrike on Nuseirat Camp, a refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday morning, according to the Al-Awda hospital, which received the bodies.
People, including children, were waiting in line to collect water when the camp was struck, according to hospital personnel. Video footage and images reviewed by ABC News show people of different ages with water containers in the area seemingly right after the attack, many carrying injured and dead bodies covered in blood.
Responding to ABC News' request for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike target was "an Islamic Jihad terrorist" in the central Gaza Strip, adding that "as a result of a technical error with the munition, the munition fell dozens of meters from the target" and that "the incident is under review."
Among the victims is 12-year-old Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, who was also in the line to collect water, one of his relatives told ABC News.
"He had the most beautiful heart in the world," Hamza Ibrahim, a relative of Siraj, told ABC News. "He would memorize Quran and was a football fan."
This is the latest in a series of strikes across Gaza. According to a statement from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, 139 Palestinians were killed in the IDF attacks over the last 24 hours and more than 425 were injured. The total Palestinian death toll since Oct. 7, 2023, now tops 58,000, according to the Ministry of Health.
On Thursday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said at least 798 people have been killed near and around food aid sites since the end of May.
"Inaction [and] silence are complicities," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), wrote in a post on X on Friday. "Under our watch, Gaza has become the graveyard of children [and] starving people. No way out. Their choice is between [two] deaths: starvation or being [shot] at."
In a speech on Thursday in Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said if Hamas does not agree via negotiations in 60 days to the "minimum conditions" Israel has set for a permanent ceasefire, "we will achieve it in other ways, by using force, the force of our heroic army."
Israel is calling for Hamas to lay down its weapons, for the group to have no more government or military capabilities and for Gaza to be demilitarized.
Hamas released a statement in response, calling Netanyahu's motives "malicious and ill-intentioned."
"The Movement had previously proposed a comprehensive exchange deal, under which all captives would be released in one phase, in return for an agreement that guarantees a permanent cessation of aggression, a full withdrawal of the occupation army, and the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid," Hamas said in a statement. "However, Netanyahu rejected this proposal at the time and continues to evade and place further obstacles."
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-led surprise attack on southern Israel. Hundreds more were taken hostage. At least 20 living hostages are believed to still remain in Hamas captivity.
ABC News' Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
