Israeli attacks across Gaza kill 11, family of five including three children among dead

Israeli attacks carried out across Gaza on Saturday killed 11 people, including three children and their parents, according to Gaza's civil defence agency and hospitals, even as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in place and efforts to secure a permanent end to the war remain at a standstill.

According to Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, an Israeli strike hit a residential apartment in northwestern Gaza City, killing a family of five comprising three children and their parents.

"The family's only surviving member is one child, who was not inside the house at the time of the strike," Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, told AFP.

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Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital confirmed it had received the five bodies.

Responding to the incident, an Israeli military spokeswoman said a strike had been conducted in Gaza City on Saturday "targeting a Hamas terrorist".

She added that the military was still assessing the outcome of the operation.

Residents describe aftermath of the strike

Residents said the missile struck without any prior warning.

"Suddenly there was a missile hitting the building. No one knew, no one, no warning, nothing," Gaza resident Mousa Al-Aimawi told AFP.

"They hit it without caring that there are civilians, children, women, and girls."

Mohammed Kali, who lives in the same building, described seeing victims lying outside.

"There were bodies scattered on the ground -- women and children dead, and elderly people too," he said.

More fatalities reported elsewhere in Gaza

The civil defence agency said three more people were killed after an Israeli airstrike struck a group of civilians in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed it had received the three bodies.

Later, Bassal said a woman was killed after "Israeli artillery shelling" hit "a tent sheltering displaced people" east of the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Gaza's Al-Ahli Hospital confirmed it had received the woman's body along with several injured people, including her daughter.

Bassal added that several people were wounded while three others remain missing in the area that was struck.

Health officials also reported that two more people were killed in separate Israeli attacks elsewhere in Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on those attacks.

Violence continues despite ceasefire

Although a ceasefire remains in effect between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, violence has continued across Gaza, and negotiations aimed at securing a lasting agreement to end the war have stalled.

Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations, said at least 1,144 Palestinians had been killed since the truce took effect last October.

Over the same period, the Israeli military said it had lost five soldiers in Gaza, along with one civilian contractor.