Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill 17 people in Gaza, nearly all of them women or kids

Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people late Tuesday, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry and hospital officials said.

Five kids were killed as they sheltered together in the same tent, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children's ward at nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Their bodies were among the eight children and five women brought to the hospital after strikes on tents, homes and a vehicle. Two bodies were unidentifiable.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants who had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, without providing evidence. Israel said it took steps to lessen the risk of hurting civilians and blamed Hamas for the civilian casualties.

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, although there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope the war will end soon. Issam Saqr, a displaced man from Khan Younis, told The Associated Press he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!”

Here's the latest:

Israel says only a ‘limited’ number of its soldiers faced possible arrest overseas

JERUSALEM — The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the number of Israeli soldiers subjected to possible arrest overseas for accusations of war crimes in Gaza is “very limited,” despite intense media coverage of a case of a soldier forced to leave Brazil this week due to possible legal action.

On Sunday, Israel said it had helped the former soldier leave Brazil on a commercial flight, after Brazilian authorities launched an investigation into the soldier based on his social media posts showing him taking part in the demolition of civilian homes in Gaza. The investigation was based on a complaint filed by a pro-Palestinian activist group.

The Foreign Ministry said it is aware of fewer than a dozen similar complaints around the world. Eden Bar-Tal, the ministry’s director general, accused “terrorist organizations” of spearheading the efforts to investigate Israeli soldiers. He dismissed the complaints as a public relations stunt with little chance of succeeding.

Palestinians in Gaza hope for a ceasefire as they endure war's harsh conditions

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope that Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas will end soon, as both sides appear to be inching toward a ceasefire deal.

“What we are living is not a life. Nobody could bear the situation we’re experiencing for a single day,” said Munawar al-Bik, a displaced woman from Gaza City.

“We wake up at night to the sounds of men crying, because of the bad situation,” al-Bik said. “The situation is unbearable, we have no energy left, we want it to end today.”

She spoke to The Associated Press on a dusty road in the southern city of Khan Younis beside the rubble of a destroyed building. Behind her, a sea of makeshift tents filled with displaced families stretched into the distance.

Muhammad Zaqout, a displaced man from Gaza City, said he’s sick of children being killed daily, of the destruction and displacement.

In recent months, families who fled their homes in Gaza have had little access to clean water or enough food to eat, and they struggle to cope with harsh winter conditions that have killed several babies from hypothermia in recent weeks.

Issam Saqr, displaced from Khan Younis, said he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!”

Israeli strike kills at least 17 people in southern Gaza, nearly all of them women or children

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people late Tuesday, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

Five kids were killed in the same tent as they sheltered together in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Muwasi, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the child ward at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. Their bodies were among the eight children and five women brought to the hospital.

The strikes tore into tents for displaced Palestinians, a car and two houses in the the Khan Younis area, the hospital said. Two of the dead were men, and the two in the vehicle were unidentifiable.

In the morgue, bodies lay on stretchers or stacked on metal shelves. A young girl in a fuzzy pink sweatshirt rested with her head in the lap of another girl. Other corpses, some disfigured by the explosions, were covered in blankets.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants who had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war, without providing evidence. Israel said it took steps to lessen the risk of harming civilians and blamed Hamas for the civilian casualties.

It was not immediately clear if that strike that killed the five children was inside the area in Muwasi Israel's military designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties.

Muwasi is a desolate coastal area where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in makeshift tents during the cold and rainy winter.