CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the region with a truce deal still elusive.
As last-ditch diplomacy continued to halt the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.
It said troops killed dozens of armed fighters and seized weapons including explosives, grenades and automatic rifles. Later in the day, the Israeli military struck a school and a nearby house in Gaza City, killing at least three people and wounding 15, the territory’s Civil Emergency Service said.
The military said, in a statement, it had hit Hamas militants operating at a command center located inside a compound that had previously served as a school.
The conflict churned on as Blinken wound up his ninth troubleshooting visit to West Asia since the Gaza war erupted last October with still no sign that deep differences between the sides over how to end the war could be reconciled.