SRINAGAR: At least 70 Palestinians, among them seven children aged between two months and eight years, were killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.
The bombardment marked one of the deadliest days in the two-year conflict.
The attacks came only hours after United States President Donald Trump urged Israel to “immediately stop bombing” Gaza. Trump’s intervention followed Hamas’s announcement that it was prepared to accept his proposed peace plan aimed at ending the protracted war.
Local health officials said entire families were buried under the rubble as Israeli fighter jets struck residential neighbourhoods across Gaza City and its outskirts. Hospitals, already stretched to capacity, were overwhelmed with casualties, while rescue workers struggled to reach survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes. However, officials have repeatedly stated in recent weeks that their campaign is targeting Hamas infrastructure and leadership, accusing the group of using civilian areas as cover.
Hamas, for its part, described the air raids as “indiscriminate massacres” and said the willingness it had shown to embrace Trump’s peace framework was now being undermined by what it called Israel’s “relentless aggression.”
The international community expressed alarm at the escalating bloodshed. Human rights organisations warned of potential violations of international law, citing the high civilian death toll and the killing of children.
The two-year conflict has killed thousands and displaced many more, leaving Gaza’s 2.3 million residents facing chronic shortages of food, water, electricity, and medical supplies. Despite periodic calls for ceasefires, the cycle of violence has repeatedly resumed, with peace initiatives collapsing under mutual distrust and continuing hostilities.
Israel has now killed at least 67,074 Palestinians, including 19,424 children and 23,000 women, and injured 169,430 others, with children and women likely comprising over half of the wounded. These figures remain incomplete, as many victims are still trapped under rubble or lying in the streets, unreachable by emergency and rescue teams.
