Eighteen members of the same family killed in Israeli attack on Gaza | Israel-Gaza War

At least 18 members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, although mediators expressed optimism that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would soon be reached after ten months of war.

Saturday's airstrike hit a house and an adjacent warehouse housing displaced people at the entrance to the town of Zawaida, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where the victims were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the number of dead there.

Among those killed was Sami Jawad al-Ejlah, a wholesaler who coordinated with the Israeli military to transport meat and fish to Gaza. Also among the dead were his two wives, 11 of their children aged between two and 22, the children's grandmother and three other relatives, according to a list provided by the hospital.

Omar al-Dreemli, a relative, said: “We are in the morgue and see indescribable scenes with severed limbs and heads and dismembered children.”

“He was a peaceful man,” said Abu Ahmed, a neighbor. More than 40 civilians were seeking shelter in the house and warehouse at the time, he said.

The Israeli military, which rarely comments on individual attacks, said it had hit “terrorist infrastructure” in the center of the Gaza Strip, where rockets have been fired at Israel in recent weeks.

“There are reports that civilians in an adjacent building were killed as a result of the attack. The incident is currently under investigation,” it said.

Another mass evacuation was ordered for parts of the central Gaza Strip. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee, in a post on X, referred to Palestinian rocket fire and said Palestinians in areas in and around the municipal Maghazi refugee camp should leave the camp.

“The suffering started from the day we left our homes,” said Ahmad Omrani, one of those affected by the order, as heavily laden vehicles, bicycles and donkey carts drove through the rubble. “We suffer from fear and anxiety and are afraid for the children playing in the streets. You cannot sleep, sit or eat well.”

Issa Murad, a Palestinian displaced in Deir al-Balah, said: “During each round of negotiations, they apply pressure by forcing evacuations and committing massacres.”

The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's population has been displaced, often multiple times, and Israeli military evacuation orders have been issued for about 84 percent of the territory, according to the UN.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 250 into Gaza. More than 100 were released in a ceasefire in November. About 110 people are believed to be in Gaza, but Israeli authorities believe about a third are dead.

Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 Hamas fighters, but provides no evidence.

Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 40,074 Palestinians had been killed in the war, with thousands more believed to be buried under rubble and tens of thousands injured.

The mediators have been working for months on a three-phase plan that would see Hamas release the hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinians held captive by Israel.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that “we are closer to an agreement than ever before.” However, a senior Hamas official rejected these comments on Saturday.

“To say we are approaching an agreement is an illusion,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told AFP. “We are not facing an agreement or real negotiations, but the imposition of American dictates.”

Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report