GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday that 15 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Palestinian territory including five in one strike in Gaza City.

“Fifteen people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza since dawn,” civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said. Five people were killed in an air strike on a tent in Gaza City at dawn, he said.

Elsewhere in the territory, where Israel’s army resumed its offensive in March following a two-month truce, four people were killed in an Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

One child was killed in gunfire by the Israeli navy on the coast of Rafah, in the south of Gaza, Mughayyir added.

Berlin says situation ‘unbearable’, calls for ceasefire

Images showed mourners alongside bodies wrapped in white shrouds, which relatives said belonged to a single family killed in the Gaza City strike.

“Three children, their mother and her husband were sleeping inside a tent and were bombed by an (Israeli) occupation aircraft,” family member Omar Abu al-Kass said.

The strikes came “without warning and without having done anything wrong,” added Abu al-Kass, who said he was the children’s maternal grandfather.

Unbearable situation

Germany’s new top diplomat Johann Wadephul called on Saturday for “serious discussions for a ceasefire” in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation “is now unbearable”.

Ahead of a visit to Israel, Wadephul said it was “imperative to start” talks “to free all hostages and to ensure that supplies reach the population of Gaza”, according to comments reported by his ministry.

While reaffirming Germany’s unwavering support for Israel, the official said he would “inquire about the strategic objective of the fighting that has intensified since March”.

In Israel, Wadephul is expected to meet his counterpart Gideon Saar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

Israel’s military resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month truce that saw a surge in aid into the war-ravaged territory and the release of Israeli prisoners.

On Tuesday, new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced “considerable concern” about the Gaza conflict and demanded that Israel “respect its humanitarian obligations”.

The Gaza Strip, where nearly all 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced at least once during the conflict, has been subjected to a strict blockade since March 2 and is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis.

“In the West Bank as well, Palestinians need political and economic future prospects so that hatred and extremism no longer find fertile grounds,” Wadephul said. His visit comes at a time when Israel and Germany are preparing to celebrate 60 years of joint diplomatic relations.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected in Berlin on Monday, while his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit Israel on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2025