GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, June  28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil
defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people in the devastated territory
on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in
seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by
Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.

He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike
on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.

Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the
northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where
displaced people were sheltering.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment by Saturday
evening.

Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean
AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by
rescuers.

AFP images showed mourners weeping over the bodies of seven people,
including at least two children, wrapped in white shrouds and blankets at
Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Video footage filmed from southern Israel showed smoke rising over northern
Gaza after blasts.

Other AFP footage filmed in Gaza City showed a cloud of smoke rising from
buildings after a strike.

In Jabalia, an AFP photographer saw civil defence rescuers aiding a man
with blood on his back.

- Gaza ceasefire drive -

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a
deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

After claiming victory in a 12-day war against Iran that ended with a
ceasefire on June 24, the Israeli military said it would refocus on its
offensive in Gaza, where Palestinian militants still hold Israeli hostages.

Qatar said on Saturday that it and fellow mediators the United States and
Egypt were engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on momentum from the
ceasefire with Iran and work towards a Gaza truce.

"If we don't utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it's an
opportunity lost amongst many in the near past. We don't want to see that
again," said Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari.

Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly
civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,412 people,
also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations
considers these figures to be reliable.