Israeli Airstrikes Hit 'Safe' Zones in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip early Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared safe zones, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe. The bombardments came after Israel agreed Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza, the first crack in a punishing 11-day siege. Many among Gaza's 2.3 million residents have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink dirty water amid dwindling supplies, the AP reports. Homes were hit in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are seeking shelter. Medical staff at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said they received at least 12 dead and 40 wounded.

The announcement of a plan to bring water, food, and other supplies into Gaza came as fury over the blast at Gaza City's al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as President Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region. There were conflicting claims of who was behind the deadly hospital explosion. Hamas officials in Gaza blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio, and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, and hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure, and command centers. It said it hit dozens of mortar launching posts, most of them immediately after they launched shells at Israel. Palestinians have been launching barrages of rockets at Israel since the fighting began. The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and more than 12,000 wounded, mostly women, children, and the elderly. Another 1,300 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, health authorities said. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas' deadly incursion on Oct. 7. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)