Israeli strikes on Gaza City kill at least 14 as some countries move to recognize Palestinian state

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people overnight in Gaza City, health officials said, as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to leave.

The strikes come as Western countries are increasingly fed up with the intensifying war in Gaza, with some moving to recognize Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next week. In a statement Friday, Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday. The Iberian country had previously announced its plans to do so but has now set an official date.

Portugal is among other Western nations, including the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg, expected to recognize Palestinian statehood in the coming days.

The latest Israeli operation, which started this week, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire further out of reach. The Israeli military, which says it wants to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure,” hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.

Israeli bombardment over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas of the strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

Dr. Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were brought, said the dead included six people from the same family after a strike hit their home early Saturday morning. They were relatives of the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said five other people were killed in another strike close to Shawa Square.

Israel’s military said it couldn’t comment on the specific strikes without more information, but that it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” and “takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”

In recent days, Israel has been urging hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls a humanitarian zone and opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate.

Palestinians have streamed out of the city by car and on foot. But many in the famine-stricken city are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or unable to afford the cost of moving.

Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are appealing for a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.

On Friday, UNICEF said lifesaving therapeutic food meant for thousands of children in Gaza was stolen from four of its trucks. The statement said armed people approached the trucks outside their compound in Gaza City and held the drivers at gunpoint while the food was taken.

“They were intended to treat malnourished children in Gaza City where famine is declared … it was a life-saving shipment amid the severe restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza City,” said Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF.

In a statement Friday, Israel’s army blamed Hamas for stealing the food.

Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid and using it to fund its military activities, without providing evidence. The U.N. says there are mechanisms in place that prevent any significant diversion of aid.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death count in Gaza has surpassed 65,100 since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that triggered the war. The ministry, part of a Hamas government, does not say how many of the dead were civilians or militants. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in the 2023 attack, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to still be alive.

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Associated Press writer Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain contributed to this report.

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Samy Magdy, The Associated Press