CAIRO: Israeli military strikes on Friday killed at least 12 Palestinians and several houses were destroyed in Gaza Strip, Palestinian authorities say.
According to medics, as health officials resumed vaccination of tens of thousands more children in the enclave against polio, Israeli forces started bombings several areas of the Gaza Strip.
In Nuseirat, a historic refugee camp, four people, including two women and two children, were killed. Another eight were killed in two separate strikes in Gaza City.
The strikes come as Israeli forces continue their operations in Gaza City’s Zeitoun suburb, eastern Khan Younis, and Rafah, near the Egyptian border. In Rafah, Israeli forces reportedly demolished several houses.
As the conflict enters its eleventh month, efforts to broker a ceasefire remain stalled. Diplomats from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have been working to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, but significant issues remain unresolved.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the need for both sides to make concessions to finalize a deal, highlighting ongoing disagreements over the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s southern border.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health officials have resumed a polio vaccination campaign. The anti-polio drive carried out as result of a polio case diagnosed in a one-year-old baby, the first in Gaza in 25 years.
The vaccination effort is part of a broader campaign to immunize around 640,000 children under ten. On Thursday, about 160,000 children in southern Gaza received the vaccine, with plans to extend the campaign to the northern Gaza Strip soon.
In the 11th months Israeli war on Gaza has so far left at least 40,878 Palestinian, mostly children and women, dead and also displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million.
