One-year-old boy who had just uttered first words among dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

His mother lies in hospital, critically injured and 'clutching his tiny shoe', Unicef says

A Palestinian woman comforts a child as casualties from an Israeli strike arrive at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah. Reuters

A one-year-old boy killed by an Israeli strike near a medical centre in Gaza had uttered his first words to his mother just hours earlier.

At least 15 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed while queuing for nutritional supplements outside a clinic in Deir Al Balah, the UN children's agency said. Among the victims was Mohammed, one, who had earlier spoken his first words to his mother, Donia. She critically injured in the strike and now lies in a hospital bed “clutching Mohammed’s tiny shoe”, Unicef said.

“The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable,” Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement after the attack on Thursday. “No parent should have to face such tragedy.”

The Israeli strike occurred as patients gathered to receive treatment for malnutrition, infections and chronic illnesses from a medical centre operated by a Unicef partner organisation, Project Hope.

The clinic is a “place of refuge in Gaza where people bring their small children, women access pregnancy and post-partum care, people receive treatment for malnutrition, and more, Project Hope president Rabih Torbay said in a statement.

“Yet, this morning, innocent families were mercilessly attacked as they stood in line waiting for the doors to open. Horrified and heart-broken cannot properly communicate how we feel any more."

The Israeli military said the incident was under review, claiming the target of the attack was a Hamas militant who took part in the attacks on October 7, 2023.

At least 66 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Thursday, the enclave's civil defence agency said.

The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable

Unicef executive director Catherine Russell

Three were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid in north-western Gaza city, adding to the high death toll from attacks near aid sites since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in late may.

At least 798 people have been killed while trying to receive food aid in the enclave since May 27, with 615 killed near GHF sites, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned the aid delivery system as a “death sentence”, saying people were being killed while "simply trying to feed themselves and their families”.

Journalist Ahmad Abu Aisha was killed in a strike west of Nuseirat in central Gaza on Thursday, medical sources said. At least five people were killed in a strike on tents sheltering displaced families in Al Qarara village, the Wafa news agency reported.

On Friday morning, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least six people in the north of the enclave, including five at a school being used as a shelter.

The latest strikes come amid negotiations for a truce between Israel and Hamas in Qatar. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was hopeful a ceasefire would be agreed to in the “near future”.