Israeli strikes kill at least three Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say

Gaza City, Palestine. Israeli airstrikes killed at least three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, health officials said, including the son of the territory’s health ministry director-general.

Strike near Jabalia

A strike near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed Basir Al-Bursh, the son of Munir Al-Bursh, the Gaza health ministry’s director-general, according to medics and family members.

The Israeli military said it had struck several militants on Saturday, including Basir Al-Bursh, without providing further information. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, did not immediately comment.

Munir Al-Bursh lost a daughter in an Israeli airstrike in December 2023, according to family members and medics. He was wounded in that attack.

Video obtained by Reuters showed Al-Bursh carrying his son’s body, wrapped in a blanket, with other mourners as it was taken by ambulance to hospital.

“I was with him in the tent, and he said, Dad, they will target us, you and me together, I said that is fine, we will go to heaven together,” Al-Bursh said in the video.

“He went outside the tent and they struck him and he was martyred, may God have mercy on him,” he added.

At Al Shifa Hospital, Al-Bursh struggled to stand as mourners arrived to pay their respects.

Other strikes in Gaza City

Elsewhere, a strike killed a man in Shejaia, east of Gaza City, while another hit a vehicle in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, killing one person, according to the civil defence service and medics.

The strikes brought Saturday’s reported death toll to at least three.

The Israeli military said the Sheikh Radwan strike targeted a Hamas militant. The blast reduced the vehicle to a mangled wreck.