Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 10 Palestinians in two separate attacks targeting a police station in Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, condemned the incident, calling it a “new war crime.”
According to medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, at least nine Palestinian bodies were brought to the hospital following the attack on the city police headquarters, and 15 others were wounded. Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the bombing occurred at a crowded time, near a park full of civilians, including children.
Among the victims of the attack in Gaza City were the newly appointed police chief of Gaza, the director of the women's police force, and several officers. Earlier in the day, another airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp killed one Palestinian, bringing Wednesday's total death toll to at least 10.
The Israeli military claimed its air force struck two Hamas commanders in Nuseirat and later targeted another Hamas commander in the Tuffah area of Gaza City, but provided no evidence that the individuals were members of Hamas. In a statement, Hamas rejected Israel's justification that the attacks targeted “resistance leaders,” calling it a “false and baseless accusation used to justify aggression and cover up the deliberate targeting of unarmed civilian police and civilians.”
Hamas accused the Israeli government of “deliberately undermining reconciliation efforts and pushing the dangerous situation toward the re-launch of a war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip.” A day earlier, Israeli airstrikes killed 7 people, including a child, and wounded 14 others at a crowded café in Gaza City's port, which had been converted into a displacement camp, according to the Wafa news agency.
The Israeli military again said it targeted Hamas commanders in the area without providing evidence. Wednesday's attacks came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who serves as the Middle East envoy, visited the region to promote a Trump-backed deal to end Israel's war in Gaza. The meeting between Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to break the diplomatic impasse after Netanyahu refused the deal for Israel to withdraw from Gaza in exchange for Hamas disarming. After the meeting, Kushner reiterated “Israel's right to self-defense” and threatened that Hamas must disarm, or the U.S. would support Israel to “finish the job properly.”
