Israeli military says strike on Palestinians queuing for water was 'an error'

Six children among 10 people killed when 'wayward missile' hit distribution point near Nuseirat camp

The aftermath of the Israeli strike that killed 10 Palestinians gathered to collect water near Nuseirat camp, central Gaza. Reuters

The Israeli army has said a deadly strike near a Gaza water distribution point on Sunday was "an error", as attacks on the enclave killed more than 76 Palestinians.

At least 10 people, including six children, were killed at the water distribution point in central Gaza, officials said.

Al Awda Hospital, in northern Gaza, said it received 10 bodies, including six children, as well as 16 injured people, after Israeli warplanes struck the site north-west of Nuseirat camp. Seven children were among those injured.

The Israeli army said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but a malfunction had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.

The military said it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”, adding that the incident was under review.

Separately, at least 15 people were killed in an Israeli army strike on a popular market in Gaza city's Al Daraj neighbourhood, the Wafa news agency reported.

A surgeon at Al Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, in Gaza city, Dr Ahmed Qandil, was among the dead, medical sources said. Gaza's civil defence said more than 50 people were injured in the attack.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has condemned the strike on the water distribution point and other attacks on hungry Palestinians seeking to get food from the aid distribution centres run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The site of an Israeli strike that killed Palestinians gathered to collect water in Nuseirat, central Gaza. Reuters

Dozens others were killed in separate attacks on Gaza, Wafa said.

A drone strike killed at least five people in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Three were killed in a separate strike on tents housing displaced people near Al Fayrouz area in north-western Gaza city. Two were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a group of people in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza city.

Gaza's Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 58,026 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the 21-month war that was caused by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 240 taken hostage.

Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli army says are dead.

The war has displaced almost the entire population of more than 2.3 million people, caused a humanitarian crisis and left much of the enclave in ruins.

Seven UN agencies warned that a fuel shortage had reached “critical levels”, threatening aid operations, hospital care and already chronic food insecurity.

The Israeli army on Saturday warned Gaza residents against entering the sea area along the enclave, saying security restrictions have been imposed.

“We urge fishermen, swimmers, and divers to refrain from entering the sea. Entering the sea along the strip puts you at risk,” spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

Talks to agree a 60-day ceasefire in the fighting and hostage release were in the balance on Sunday after Israel and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal.

Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, but a Palestinian source said Israel had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 per cent of the enclave.

The source said Israel wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza “in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries”.

A senior Israeli official said Israel had demonstrated “a willingness to flexibility in the negotiations, while Hamas remains intransigent, clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is prepared to enter talks for a more lasting end to hostilities once a temporary truce is agreed, but only if Hamas disarms.