On 9 April 2025, the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) conducted an airstrike on a four-story residential building near al-Hawashi mosque in

Shuja'iyya Shuja'iyya (), also ''Shejaiya'', ''Shijaiyeh'', ''Shujayya'', ''Shuja'ia'', ''Shuja'iya'', is the southern quarter of Old City of Gaza, and the only quarter of the Old City located outside the historical city walls. It is one of the largest neig ...

, eastern

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

. Israeli warplanes targeted a densely populated area that was overcrowded with refugee tents and displaced people, destroying 8 homes. The strike killed at least 35

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

, including 8 women and children, injured more than 70 people, and left over 20 missing.

Background

On 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively ending the

2025 Gaza war ceasefire A List of Arab–Israeli prisoner exchanges, hostages-and-prisoners exchange and armistice between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip took effect from 19 January to 18 March 2025, during the Gaza war. It includ ...

and resuming the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. On the first day, Israel's attacks killed at least 404

, including 263 women and children, making it one of the deadliest in the Gaza war. Amid the renewed offensive, on 23 March, Israel fired on five ambulances and a fire truck "one-by-one" and killed 15 Palestinian paramedics, an action widely condemned by the international community. It was not until 30 March that the bodies of the missing paramedics were found in a mass grave. Israel subsequently ordered mass evacuations in Shuja'iyya, citing the need to destroy "terrorist infrastructure," displacing thousands of residents of Shuja'iyya before initiating a renewed offensive.

Attack

On 9 April 2025, Israeli warplanes targeted a four-story residential building in an overcrowded area filled with refugees in Shuja'iyya with "multiple missiles," causing shrapnel to fly "in all directions." The strike destroyed eight homes in Shuja'iyya. Over 35 Palestinians were killed and at least another 70 were injured. Another 20 remained missing. Israel claimed to have struck a "senior Hamas terrorist" without providing evidence and initially without giving their name. The next day, the IDF named the Hamas commander killed as Haitham Razek abd al-Karim Sheikh Khalil. Footage showed dust-covered bodies of children being carried away from the rubble by rescue workers. Some victims were "torn to pieces" while "dust and massive destruction filled the entire place."

Reactions

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

condemned the strike as a "bloody massacre" and one of the "most heinous acts of genocide."

Aftermath and investigation

The Israeli military issued report stating that "professional failures" led to the killing of the 15 workers in Gaza, and that the commander on the ground perceived an immediate and tangible threat after vehicles approached rapidly, blaming "poor night visibility". The deputy commander of the unit involved was dismissed. The IDF said its investigation found six of the casualties were Hamas members, and rejected that there had been summary executions.

References

{{Gaza war 2025 massacres of the Gaza war Israeli massacres of Palestinians 21st-century mass murder in the Gaza Strip Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war 2025 airstrikes Civilians killed in the Israel–Hamas war 2025 building bombings Gaza City in the Israel–Hamas war 2025 in the Gaza Strip Shuja'iyya Residential building bombings in the Gaza Strip Israeli airstrikes during the Israel–Hamas war