Five Palestinians, including four women, were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment in Gaza City overnight, according to the territory’s civil defence agency and a hospital.
Israeli media said the strike was aimed at Ali al-Amoudi, described as a senior Hamas official. The Israeli military has not issued a statement on the incident.
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Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said those killed were two women, their daughters and a young man. The attack struck an apartment in the Rimal neighbourhood.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas authority, said rescuers transported “five bodies and several wounded” to the hospital.
Children walk past the site of an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Gaza City
At Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, friends and relatives gathered for the funeral of Maisa Abu Dawoud and her daughter Mary, who were among those killed.
“Today is essentially the worst day of my life. I lost my mother and my grandmother today,” said Fouad Al-Najjar.
Christians account for just 1% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement expressing its condolences.
“We pray for an end to the war and bombardment, for the protection of civilian lives, and for a just peace in which the people of Gaza can feel secure for their children and loved ones. May their memory be eternal,” the Patriarchate said.
The parish priest leads the funeral of Maysaa Abu Daoud and her daughter Mary
The war in Gaza began after Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel in 2023, killing 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s sweeping military campaign that followed has devastated much of Gaza and killed more than 74,200 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. The United Nations regards the ministry’s figures as reliable.
More than 1,440 people have been killed by Israeli forces since a ceasefire was announced last October, Gaza’s health ministry said.
The Israeli military has reported five deaths among its troops during the same period, along with the death of one civilian contractor.
‘Financing a terrorist organisation’
In a separate case, five people in France have been charged with allegedly routing funds through humanitarian organisations to a third party that was seeking donations for Hamas, the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said.
The five were detained on Tuesday by investigators from the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), which is overseeing the inquiry, according to the PNAT.
A judicial investigation was opened yesterday into “financing a terrorist organisation, in this case Hamas”. At the PNAT’s request, three of the suspects were placed under judicial supervision.
The prosecutor’s office said it “requested the pretrial detention of the two association presidents”. The first was detained pending a postponed adversarial hearing that he had requested.
“My client participated in fundraising efforts for exclusively humanitarian purposes; his detention would be scandalous,” said his lawyer, Lucie Simon.
The second association president was also placed “under judicial supervision”, the PNAT said.
The authorities did not identify where the two organisations were based or disclose the sums of money involved.
