Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said the strike hit people queueing for nutritional supplements in the town of Deir al-Balah. Graphic video from the hospital showed the bodies of several children and others lying on the floor as medics treated their wounds.

The Israeli military said it targeted a "Hamas terrorist" in the area. It said it "regret[ted] any harm to uninvolved individuals" and that the incident was "under review".

Another 26 people were reportedly killed in strikes elsewhere in Gaza on Thursday, as Israeli and Hamas delegations continued negotiations for a new ceasefire and hostage release deal at indirect talks in Doha.
At al-Aqsa hospital's mortuary, relatives of those killed wept as they wrapped the dead children in white shrouds and body bags before performing funeral prayers.

One woman told the BBC that her pregnant niece, Manal, and her daughter, Fatima, were among them, and that Manal's son was in the intensive care unit.

"She was queuing to get the children supplements when the incident happened, I don't know what happened after that," Intisar said.

Another woman standing said nearby said: "For what sin were they killed?"

"We are dying before the ears and eyes of the whole world. The whole world is watching the Gaza Strip. If people aren't killed by the Israeli army, they die trying to get aid."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck a member of the elite Nukhba forces of Hamas's military wing who had taken part in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

"The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals in the area. The incident is under review," it added. "The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals."

The attack happened as mediators attempted to build momentum towards a ceasefire deal at talks in Doha.
However, significant gaps between Israel and Hamas appear to remain.

On Wednesday night, a senior Israeli official told journalists in Washington that it could take one or two weeks to reach an agreement.

The official, who was speaking during a visit to the US by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also said that if an agreement was reached on a 60-day ceasefire, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent end to the war that would require Hamas to disarm. If Hamas refused to disarm, Israel would "proceed" with military operations, they added.

Earlier, Hamas issued a statement saying that the talks had been difficult, blaming Israeli "intransigence".

The group said it had shown flexibility in agreeing to release 10 hostages, but it reiterated that it was seeking a "comprehensive" agreement that would end the Israeli offensive.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,680 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times. More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

Charity leaders, activists and desperate Palestinians in Gaza have condemned the crowdfunding website for shutting down or blocking withdrawals for Palestine-related fundraising pages – and have accused bosses of having “blood on their hands”.

Despite questions from Al Jazeera, the company has not revealed the amount of money raised on its platform for Gaza that has been frozen in its system or has been refunded to donors.

The London-based NGO-sector worker described the closure of her GoFundMe page as a “disaster” for her group’s efforts to provide emergency aid in the enclave.

The Sameer Project runs a camp for displaced people in Deir el-Balah, providing healthcare and essentials to its residents – paid for by money that, until now, had been raised through GoFundMe, totalling more than $1m. It also funds food, water, shelter and clothing for people across Gaza.

GoFundMe has refused to disclose figures that show how many Israel or Ukraine fundraisers have been closed compared with those for Gaza.

The company’s long and intrusive review process often results in Gaza fundraisers being shut down and money refunded to donors or pages being “paused”, preventing funds from being accessed by account holders until the review is concluded.

One United States-based fundraiser for the Sulala animal shelter in Gaza says it had about $50,000 dollars refunded to donors when its first page was closed. The team behind the fundraiser then created another page without specifically mentioning Gaza or Palestine, which was not flagged by GoFundMe, placed under review or paused, and ran for months uninterrupted.

Crowdfunding websites have for months been one of the only feasible ways to help those trapped in Gaza.

Famine is creeping further into the enclave, humanitarian aid is being blocked for long periods, civilian infrastructure lies in ruin and banks and ATMs have either been destroyed or have halted operations.

Sabbah slammed GoFundMe for not justifying shutting her page down despite the huge amount of money the company made from the group’s pages in”payment processing fees”. It charges 30 cents per donation and a 2.9 percent cut of the total raised.

The 31-year-old vegetable seller had heard that the nearby food distribution site recently opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation that began operations in the territory last month, would be handing out food at 2am.

To get there early and maximise his chance of grabbing a box of flour, oil, beans and other basics, Ahmed and some friends set out across the dangerous rubble-strewn roads.

Just reaching the vicinity of the centre, one of four run by the GHF, was dangerous. “All the time we could hear the sound of shells and stray bullets flying over us. We kept taking cover behind the ruins of houses. Whoever doesn’t take cover is exposed to death,” he said.

All last week, every night and most mornings, there were similar scenes across Gaza, as tens of thousands of hungry, desperate people converged on the GHF sites or waited at points where trucks loaded with UN flour were expected.

Every day, somewhere in the devastated territory, these gatherings had a similarly lethal conclusion when Israeli forces open fire.
Food has become extremely scarce in Gaza since Israel imposed a tight blockade on all supplies throughout March and April, threatening many of the 2.3 million people who live there with a “critical risk of famine”. A kilo of sugar now costs 60 times more than before the war and a 25kg bag of flour is up to $500. Fuel for cooking is scarce, fresh vegetables almost unobtainable for many and there is no fresh meat.

Since the blockade was partly lifted last month, the UN has tried to bring in aid but it has faced major obstacles, including rubble-choked roads, Israeli military restrictions, continuing airstrikes and growing anarchy.

Many of the deaths in recent weeks have occurred when rumours spread of the possible arrival of aid trucks sent into Gaza by the World Food Programme (WFP), which was recently given permission by Israel to use northern entry points to Gaza, allowing more direct access to the areas where the humanitarian crisis is most acute.

But none of these deliveries have reached their destinations, all being stopped and offloaded, sometimes by criminal gangs but for the most part by desperate ordinary Palestinians, aid officials said.

Israeli jets also bombed a house west of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing at least eight people and injuring more.
UNICEF warned the Gaza Strip was also facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapsed.

“Children will begin to die of thirst,” spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva on Friday. “Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional.”

The UN agency warned that the GHF distribution system was “making a desperate situation worse”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Israel’s conflict with Iran and its genocide in Gaza are “quickly reaching the point of no return”.

“This madness must end as soon as possible,” Erdogan said during a speech to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s youth forum in Istanbul. “Israel complained about damage to its hospitals today, yet it has so far carried out over 700 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza alone,” he added, reiterating calls for a ceasefire.