Israeli strikes kill community kitchen workers in Gaza, officials say

At least eight Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including three community kitchen workers in the central city of Deir el-Balah, according to reports from Gaza.

Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said the strike targeted a community kitchen in Deir el-Balah.

“This shows that Israel is not only targeting people, but also organisations serving the community across Gaza,” Khoudary said.

Additional fatalities were reported in Khan Younis and Beit Lahiya.

Reacting to the attack, Hamas called the strike “a deliberate war crime and a renewed scene of the ongoing genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip”.

“This occurs amid an unjustified international silence and inaction that emboldens the occupation to continue its massacres, in blatant disregard for all international values, norms, and laws,” the group added in a statement.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 72,760 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli military also said on Sunday that its forces killed a person in a buffer zone area, alleging without evidence that the individual posed an imminent threat.

It additionally claimed a Hamas commander, identified as Bahaa Baroud, had been killed.