2 Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 13, officials say. First aid in weeks reaches the north

Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Two separate Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people, including women and children, in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel announced the first delivery of aid in weeks to war-battered northern Gaza.

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, the ministry said. The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, offering no evidence or further detail.

Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to Nasser Hospital. It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the blast.

Israel says aid trucks reach northern Gaza

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said Saturday that 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment reached the far north of the enclave on Thursday, including the urban refugee camp at Jabaliya. It's the first time any aid has reached the far north of the enclave since Israel began a new military campaign there last month.

But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to the the UN World Food Program, which was involved in the delivery process. In Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped one of the convoys bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be offloaded, WFP spokesperson Alia Zaki said.

U.S. deadline is looming for Israel

The announcement came days before a U.S. deadline demanding that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza. A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, issued Thursday said that there's a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza.

COGAT rejected the IPC's finding and said that the report relied “on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”

Israel's new offensive has been focusing on Jabaliya, a densely populated refugee camp where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other areas affected by the new campaign include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, situated just north of Gaza City.

No emergency services functioning north of Gaza City

The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in the area. Earlier this week, the Gaza Health Ministry said that there were no ambulances or emergency crews operating north of Gaza City.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck several schools and tent camps, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has left 90 oer cent of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to UN figures.

The military has continually accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, UN facilities and hospitals. The contesting narratives over the use of schools and hospitals go to the heart of the more than 13-month conflict.

In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls’ school in Gaza's central city of Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside. Israel’s military said that it targeted a Hamas command center used to direct attacks against its troops and store “large quantities of weapons.”

More than a year of war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They don't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children. The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from in Ramallah, West Bank.