# Children waiting for supplements killed in central Gaza strike as ceasefire talks continue
Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip | 10 July 2025
At least 15 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike outside a clinic in central Gaza while people were waiting to receive nutritional supplements, according to hospital officials and aid-group accounts reported by BBC News and Al Jazeera. The dead included eight children and two women, and at least 30 more people were wounded, including children, as the strike hit a line of civilians gathered outside the clinic in Deir al-Balah.
The attack took place in front of Project Hope’s Altayara health clinic, where patients had assembled before opening time to seek treatment and supplies. The aid group said the site was used for care related to malnutrition, infections and chronic illnesses, and described the strike as a grave breach of humanitarian law. BBC News reported that video from al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah showed several children among the dead and wounded being treated on the floor after the blast.
Witnesses described a drone strike that tore through the queue as families waited outside the clinic. One man told AFP, in remarks carried by BBC News, that the ground shook and the area filled with blood and screams. Relatives later gathered at the hospital mortuary, where bodies wrapped in white shrouds were prepared for funeral prayers. The same reporting said one woman identified a pregnant niece and her daughter among the dead.
The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas member and that it regretted any harm to civilians. It said the person targeted belonged to the elite Nukhba unit and had taken part in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel. The military also said reports of injuries in the area were under review. That account did not alter the reports from Gaza that the dead and wounded were civilians waiting for medical and nutritional support.
The strike came amid broader fighting across Gaza. Al Jazeera reported that at least 82 people were killed across the enclave on the same day, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, as indirect ceasefire negotiations continued through the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Those talks were focused on a possible 60-day pause in fighting and the release of captives held in Gaza, but both sides were still publicly at odds over the terms.
According to the reporting, Hamas said it had shown flexibility on hostage releases but continued to press for a deal that would end the war and secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was pursuing a temporary ceasefire tied to the release of captives, but that any longer-term deal would require Hamas to disarm and give up its military and governing role in Gaza. He also warned that if no agreement was reached within 60 days, Israel would continue by force.
The humanitarian picture remained severe. Al Jazeera reported that UNICEF’s Catherine Russell condemned the killing of families seeking aid and warned that children in Gaza faced starvation as supplies remained insufficient. The same report said the European Union had reached an agreement with Israel to open more crossings for aid, repair infrastructure and protect aid workers, while the UN said it had delivered a first fuel shipment in four months but warned that the amount was far below daily needs.
The Deir al-Balah strike sharpened the central contradiction of the war: civilians were being hit while trying to reach the very aid and medical care that agencies say are already in critically short supply. With ceasefire talks still unresolved, the day’s deaths underlined how little protection remained for people standing in line for assistance.
IO Digest Desk
