GAZA CITY, Palestine: An Israeli airstrike targeting a minibus in Gaza City killed five people and wounded more than 20 others on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said five people were killed and 20 wounded, including women and children, when an Israeli strike hit a passenger bus in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood southwest of Gaza City.
“There were five martyrs and 20 wounded, including a number of children and women… as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a passenger bus in Tel al-Hawa,” Bassal said.
He said the minibus was carrying civilians travelling between Gaza City and central and southern parts of the Palestinian territory.
Bassal said the vehicle was struck by two missiles fired by Israeli drones, destroying its front and causing it to catch fire.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City confirmed that five bodies and several wounded people had been brought to the facility after an Israeli strike hit a vehicle near the destroyed cabinet headquarters in Tel al-Hawa.
Several of the wounded were in critical condition and were receiving treatment in intensive care units, Medical sources told Anadolu.
The latest strike came amid reports of further Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Wednesday, three Palestinians, including a woman, were injured in Israeli airstrikes on two evacuated homes in the Shujaiya neighbourhood east of Gaza City.
Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of Shujaiya and Zeitoun, while Israeli quadcopter drones targeted homes.
In central Gaza, an Israeli drone dropped a bomb east of the Bureij refugee camp. Israeli military vehicles stationed east of the camp also opened heavy fire towards Palestinian homes.
In southern Gaza, a medical source said a Palestinian woman was wounded by a bullet in the back when Israeli army vehicles opened heavy fire in the Qizan Abu Rashwan area south of Khan Younis.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli violations of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement had killed 1,431 Palestinians and wounded 5,026 others.
The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,221 people, according to Israeli figures.
Israel launched a massive military offensive in response, devastating large parts of the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 175,000 wounded since October 2023. Around 90 per cent of the Palestinian territory’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
