GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Aug 20 (V7N) - Gaza health officials said an Israeli strike on the municipal police headquarters in Gaza City killed nine people including a child on Wednesday, while the Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas commander.
Attacks have continued in the Palestinian territory in recent days, despite a renewed push by the United States to advance a long-term Gaza peace plan.
Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital reported the arrival of nine bodies, including a woman and a 13-year-old girl, Dana Haitham al-Jamasi.
It said it also received at least 20 wounded people following the strike in Gaza City.
The territory's civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, confirmed the death toll.
At Al-Shifa Hospital, AFP footage showed mourners weeping over plastic body bags containing their loved ones.
"Where is the ceasefire when our Palestinian people are losing dozens of their sons every day, including police officers?" Mahmoud Jundiya told AFP outside the hospital.
"Where do we turn? Where do we raise our voices?"
The Israeli military said the strike on the police headquarters targeted a Hamas commander who it said had planned to carry out attacks against troops in the territory.
"Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance," it added.
It said it had also struck a commander in Hamas's military wing in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called Israel's "complete disregard for all calls for a ceasefire".
He said US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which is tasked with implementing the ceasefire plan agreed last October, "bears responsibility for this escalation due to its failure to fulfil its obligations by pressuring the occupation" to abide by its commitments.
Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP the situation was "unsustainable".
Trump's envoy Jared Kushner had said on Monday that progress towards disarming Hamas and moving forward with the Gaza peace plan could begin within a month following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The sit-down came two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump's Gaza plan.
Netanyahu, however, has refused to support the roadmap, vowing not to withdraw troops until the Palestinian Islamist movement is "genuinely disarmed".
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike killed six people in the port of Gaza City, with the Israeli army saying it had targeted several Hamas commanders.
END/WD/RH
