Children, civilians, and a journalist among the dead as strikes target areas offering refuge and relief to displaced Palestinians
At least 95 Palestinians were killed on Monday following a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted a seaside café, a school sheltering displaced families, and food distribution sites across Gaza. The attacks—described by local officials and witnesses as unprovoked and without warning—left devastation in their wake, with many victims torn apart and entire buildings reduced to rubble.
Among the dead were at least 39 people who had gathered at Al-Baqa cafeteria, a popular seaside café in northern Gaza City. Witnesses said Israeli fighter jets bombed the area as families, including children celebrating a birthday, sought a brief escape from the harsh conditions of displacement camps.
“This place wasn’t affiliated with any political or military group,” said Yahya Sharif, a survivor. “It was full of people, including children. We found people torn apart.”
Ismail Abu Hatab, a journalist, was also among those killed in the attack, which flattened the café and left a deep crater where it once stood. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from the scene, described it as a place that had served as a rare refuge for traumatized residents. “Bloodstains are still everywhere,” he said. “Some of the bodies and pieces of flesh were collected from the flood of this place.”
Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli airstrikes hit a food distribution warehouse in the Zeitoun neighborhood, killing at least 13 people as they waited for essential rations. Another strike targeted the Yafa School, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians. Survivors said they were given just five minutes to evacuate before the bombing began.
“We don’t know what to do and where to go,” said Hamada Abu Jaradeh, who fled just before the school was hit. “We have been let down by the entire world for more than 630 days. Death is with us and around us every day.”
In central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital—already crowded with families seeking shelter—was also hit by an airstrike. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from nearby, said no warning was issued. “The site of the attack is about 10 meters from our broadcast point,” he said. “This is not the first time the hospital’s courtyard has been attacked. At least 10 times this facility has been squarely targeted.”
Videos verified by Al Jazeera show scenes of chaos, with civilians fleeing and tents torn apart by the blast. The Gaza Government Media Office condemned the attack, calling it a “systematic crime” against the enclave’s fragile healthcare system.
“It directly threatened the lives of dozens of patients,” the office said in a statement. “Its warplanes bombed a tent for the displaced inside the walls of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.”
Israel has come under growing international scrutiny for its repeated targeting of medical facilities during the ongoing 22-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and UN experts have accused Israeli forces of systematically dismantling the region’s healthcare infrastructure.