Israeli strikes kill at least 17 people in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 17 people, including children and health workers, on Friday morning, the day the new US ambassador to Israel held his first official visit to Jerusalem.

Among those killed were ten in Jabalia, including eight from the same family, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies. In the southern city of Khan Yunis, seven people were killed, including a pregnant woman, said Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

The attacks occurred a day after dozens of people were killed in attacks carried out by Israel, a state that is increasing pressure on Hamas - the Palestinian group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - to return the hostages and disarm.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Friday visited the Western Wall, a holy site for Jews in Jerusalem's Old City. He placed a prayer written by US President Donald Trump on the wall.

At his first event as US ambassador, Huckabee said Trump had told him to take the written prayer and pray for peace in Jerusalem.

Huckabee also said he would make efforts to release hostages held by Hamas since October 2023.

In the past, Huckabee has expressed support for Israel's right to annex the West Bank and incorporate parts populated by Palestinians into Israeli territory. He said it is not his intention to pursue that policy.

During his first term, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, despite Palestinian objections, and moved the embassy from Tel Aviv. The Palestinians want the eastern part of the city, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of their future state.

Huckabee's start as ambassador comes after 18 months of war in Gaza and at a time when international mediators, including the Americans, are attempting to restore a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel is demanding the release of more hostages. The Palestinian group is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

In Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the radical Palestinian group killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others. Most of the hostages were released during previous ceasefire agreements.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. /REL