Israeli strikes kill 12 Palestinians, including children, as Gaza ceasefire inches forward

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since an October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting.

The strikes hit locations in northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families.

This also came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed since the start of the war.

Rafah's opening, limited at first, marks the first major step of the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction.

Palestinians see the Rafah crossing as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.

Still, Saturday’s strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward.

Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning. Their mother survived. Meanwhile, Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded more than 500 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Sam Metz contributed from Jerusalem.