At least 17 killed in Israeli shelling on Gaza Strip

At least 17 people, including women and children, were killed in shelling on Wednesday by the Israeli military (IDF) on the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials.

Among the sites hit was the Al-Rantisi children's hospital, which was struck three times, forcing some 40 patients to evacuate, reports said.

In central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, killing three.

Two parents and their child were also killed when a strike hit their tent in the Muwasi area west of the city of Khan Younis, said officials from the Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Nearly 500,000 Palestinians have left the largest city in the Palestinian territory in the last few hours, according to IDF data, out of about 1 million on site, as estimated by the United Nations.

It is believed that hundreds of thousands remained in the city due to the number of evacuees clogging the Al-Rashid road, which follows the Mediterranean coast. However, the military announced that a second evacuation route will be opened, on Salah a-Din, the main artery connecting the north and south of Gaza.

The road will remain usable until noon on Friday, IDF Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X.

People are heading towards the Khan Younis area, where the humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi is located, which has not been exempt from Israeli strikes in recent months.

According to media reports, the saturation of refugee spaces and the lack of minimum services have pushed some residents to return to Gaza City.

The latest Israeli operation, which started Tuesday, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach.

The Israeli military, which says it wants to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure, has not given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.

Meanwhile, the EU has announced its toughest plan yet to pressure Israel to end the offensive in Gaza.

The sanctions include increasing tariffs on some Israeli goods while imposing sanctions on 10 Hamas leaders, Israeli settlers, and two members of Netanyahu’s cabinet.

The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, and the tariffs might have significant effects on the country's economy. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has vowed that Israel will resist the European campaign.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said his country will work with Norway “to put a fund on the table” to help compensate the Palestinian government in the West Bank for tax revenue being withheld by Israel.

“Israel is trying to annihilate the idea and possibility of a Palestinian state with bombs in Gaza in a veritable massacre,” Albares said on a visit to Egypt.

In February 2024, Norway said it would transfer tax funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank, that had been frozen for months because of a dispute with Israel.

Israel collects taxes and customs on behalf of the PA. After Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, which triggered the offensive in Gaza, Israel has periodically refused to make the transfers, with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying the funds were supporting terror.

Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV expressed his “profound” solidarity with Palestinians and demanded Israel respect international humanitarian law.

“Before the Almighty Lord who commanded ‘Thou shalt not kill’ and before all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity that must be respected and protected,” the pontiff said on Wednesday.

The first US-born pope was interrupted by applause when he referred to Gaza at the end of his weekly general audience.

He invited all to join his calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, a diplomatic solution to the conflict and “full compliance with international humanitarian law.”