Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes killed 15

Palestinian children check the rubble of a residential house in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 1, 2025, following overnight Israeli strikes as the war between the Palestinian Hamas militant and Israel continues. AFPCaption

Gaza's civil defence agency has said Israeli strikes killed at least 15 people, after nearly 21 months of war in the Palestinian territory.

Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the territory's population of more than two million.

Gaza civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP that seven people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli air strike that occurred on Friday overnight near displaced people's tents in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

Mughayyir said eight more people were killed in two other strikes on tent encampments on the coast of Khan Yunis, including one that killed two children early Friday.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates, but noted it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities".

On Thursday, the agency reported that 73 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence.

Israel's leaders have held firm to their aim of crushing Hamas, even as the Palestinian militant group said Thursday it was discussing new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators.

It came after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas that could lead to the release of hostages remaining in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under heavy domestic pressure to return the remaining captives.

Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that prompted the Israeli offensive resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,130 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.