Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 14, including mourners attending funeral

Al Jazeera:

Multiple Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 Palestinians, more than half of them in a drone strike on a funeral procession.

Nine months into its so-called “ceasefire” with Hamas, Israel continues to violate it on a near-daily basis.

Eight people were killed when an Israeli strike targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Balata market area of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday, Gaza’s civil defence agency and a hospital said.

At least 20 others were injured, the Al-Awda Hospital added.

Witnesses said the drone targeted Palestinian mourners gathered outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque as they waited to begin a funeral procession for a Palestinian killed in a separate attack earlier in the day in the same area.

“There is no regard for the ceasefire,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.

“The people who were participating in the [funeral] procession were coming out of the mosque [when] a drone strike targeted a group of people within the procession itself.”

The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the strike, the AFP news agency reported.

The army claimed to have struck a “terrorist” cell in central Gaza, but added that it was “aware of the claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike. The results of the strike are under review.”

In a statement, Palestinian group Hamas condemned the strike.

“This heinous crime takes place while the aggressor regime, through its systematic and continuous violation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, continues to kill and terrorise innocent citizens in front of the eyes of mediators and the international community,” it said.