Israeli strikes kill 24 in Gaza City, including Hamas chief's sister

Israel's military says it targeted militants involved in planning attacks against it

Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate air strikes on Gaza City early on June 25, and the dead included a sister of Mr Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the militant Islamist Hamas group, Gaza health officials and medics said.

Israeli tanks also pressed deeper into western areas of Rafah in the south of the enclave overnight, blowing up homes, residents said.

Two of the Israeli air strikes hit two schools in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people, medics said.

Another strike on a house in the Shati (Beach) camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 10 others. The house in Shati belonged to the extended family of Hamas political chief Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar. One of his sisters was killed, along with other relatives, said family members and medics.

Mr Hassan Kaskin, a neighbour, said the Haniyeh family house was hit without advance warning before dawn on June 25. Footage obtained by Reuters showed the multi-floor building reduced to rubble.

“They were 10 individuals, three of them were scattered outside the house and seven under the rubble – with no prior warning, with people around them, and there are injuries among the neighbours,” Mr Kaskin told Reuters.