Key Points
- Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in central and southern Gaza, the Gaza Civil Defence Ministry said.
- It follows airstrikes that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a United Nations school sheltering displaced on Wednesday.
- The body of an activist killed on 6 September by an Israeli soldier has been returned to her hometown in Türkiye.
Israeli airstrikes have hit central and southern Gaza, killing at least 14 people as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier prepare to honour her at a funeral.
The airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including three women and four children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis with Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Civil Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
They followed airstrikes that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a
The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said six staffers were killed by two Israel airstrikes on the school in central Gaza, marking what it said was the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.
Gaza polio inoculation campaign draws down
The World Health Organization (WHO) said about 559,000 younger than 10 have recovered from their first dose — seven out of every eight children the campaign aimed to vaccinate.
The second doses are expected to begin later in September as part of an effort the WHO said parties had already agreed to.
“As we prepare for the next round in four weeks, we’re hopeful these pauses will hold because this campaign has clearly shown the world what’s possible when peace is given a chance,” Richard Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in Gaza and the West Bank, said in a statement on Saturday.
Polio was eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, but vaccinations plunged after the war began 10 months ago and the territory has become a breeding ground for the virus,
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are crowded into tent camps lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and rubbish.
Body of Turkish-American activist returned to hometown
Meanwhile, the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the Turkish-American activist killed on 6 September by an Israeli soldier, was returned to her hometown late on Friday accompanied by a police honour guard, the official Turkish news agency reported.
Draped in a Turkish flag, the coffin was carried from a hearse to a hospital in Didim by six officers in a ceremonial uniform.
Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency reported her body arrived in Didim after an autopsy at the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute. Her funeral is due to be held in the coastal town in western Türkiye later on Saturday.
The 26-year-old activist from Seattle, who held US and Turkish citizenship, was killed after a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces.
Türkiye has announced it would investigate her death.
Eygi’s death was condemned by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the US, Egypt and Qatar pushed for a cease-fire and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of making new and unacceptable demands.
Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians now killed
The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, in an October 7 attack on southern Israel.
They abducted another 250 people and are still holding about 100 hostages after releasing most of the rest in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a week-long cease-fire in November.
About a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.
Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants in the war.
