Gaza is experiencing one of the longest and most devastating phases of conflict in recent decades. Following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel—which left around 1,200 people dead and over 250 taken hostage—the Israeli army launched a large-scale military operation in the enclave. Over 21 months of fighting, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 58,000, according to Palestinian authorities—most of them, reportedly, women and children. Despite international mediation, ceasefire talks remain deadlocked.
Against this backdrop, Israeli strikes on Sunday once again claimed dozens of lives. Among the victims were children waiting in line for water.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Sunday killed at least 30 people, local health authorities reported. Among the dead were six children who had been near a water collection point. The attacks came as international mediators continued efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Talks between Israel and Hamas, however, remain at an impasse. The sides have made no progress toward a deal to halt the 21-month war or secure the release of some of the Israeli hostages. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to discuss the proposed agreement with the administration of Donald Trump. But a new sticking point—whether Israeli troops would remain deployed during the ceasefire—has cast doubt on the viability of the deal.
Israel insists the military operation will end only after Hamas surrenders, disarms, and goes into exile—demands the group firmly rejects. In response, Hamas has said it is prepared to release the remaining 50 hostages—fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive—on the condition that hostilities cease and Israeli forces fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the number of people killed in the conflict has surpassed 58,000. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but claims that more than half of the casualties are women and children. The war began following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault in which militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in northern Israel.
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Alongside the fighting in Gaza, the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has also intensified. On Sunday, funerals were held for two Palestinians, including 20-year-old Saifullah Musallet, a Palestinian with U.S. citizenship, who, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers.
Palestinians carry sacks of flour distributed by the World Food Program in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025.
In central Gaza, near the Nuseirat area, an Israeli strike on a water collection point killed at least ten people. According to Al-Awda Hospital, six of the victims were children. All of the bodies were taken to that medical facility.
Eyewitness Ramadan Nassar, who lives nearby, told the Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults were waiting in line at the water collection point on Sunday morning. After the strike, he said, people began running in panic, and some—including those severely wounded—collapsed to the ground.
A Palestinian man carries the body of his child, killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. Shifa Hospital, Gaza City. July 12, 2025.
According to Nassar, Palestinians must walk about two kilometers to reach the location where they can collect water.
The Israeli military said the strike was targeting a militant, but due to a technical error, the munition landed “dozens of meters from the target.” The army stated that the incident is under review.