Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 27 Palestinians

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, according to local health officials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has carried out daily strikes on Gaza since ending its ceasefire with Hamas last month. It has cut off the territory's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March in what it says is an attempt to pressure the militant group to release hostages.

The daily bombardment and widespread hunger is taking a heavy toll on Gaza's most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children. The United Nations' highest court began holding hearings on Monday into Israel's obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid to the territories it occupies.

Israel says the International Court of Justice is biased against it. It says enough aid entered during the ceasefire to sustain the population and accuses Hamas of siphoning it off.

Humanitarian workers say supplies are running desperately low, with most people eating one meal or less a day. They say the U.N. closely monitors aid distribution and deny any significant diversion.

An airstrike hit a home in Beit Lahiya, killing 10 people, including a Palestinian prisoner, Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, who had been released as part of the ceasefire. His wife, two of their children and a grandchild were also killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies.

Another strike hit a home in Gaza City, killing seven people, including two women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. Two other people were wounded.

Late Sunday, a strike hit a home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 10 people, including five siblings as young as 4 years old, according to the Health Ministry. Two other children were killed along with their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.

Israel says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians say nowhere in blockaded Gaza is safe.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of Gaza and left most of its population homeless.

The Health Ministry says 2,151 people, including 732 children, have been killed since Israel shattered the truce on March 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is either destroyed or agrees to disarm and leave the territory. He says Israel will then implement U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of Gaza's population in other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as "voluntary emigration."

Palestinians say the plan would amount to forcible expulsion from their homeland after Israel's offensive left much of Gaza uninhabitable. Human rights experts say it would likely violate international law.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire that Israel ended.

Magdy reported from Cairo.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli army airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli army airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli army airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli army airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Relatives mourn over the bodies of several members of the Abu Mahdi family, killed in an Israeli army airstrike, during their funeral at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli army airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Mohammad Abu Zeid, 12, tastes the food prepared for a meal in his family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — The military rulers of Burkina Faso have turned to a man once known as “Africa’s Che Guevara" as a way to rally a country struggling to defeat extremists and turning away from former Western allies.

Hundreds of young people gathered over the weekend in the capital, Ouagadougou, for the opening of a mausoleum for legendary leader Thomas Sankara.

“I’m the driver of the revolution!" one young man exclaimed with delight, sitting behind the wheel of the jeep that Sankara used during his presidency decades ago.

A charismatic Marxist leader who seized global attention by defiantly declaring his country could rely on itself, Sankara came to power in 1983 at the age of 33 after he and former ally Blaise Compaore led a leftist coup that overthrew a moderate military faction. But in 1987, Compaore turned on his former friend in a coup that killed Sankara in the capital — and later became president himself.

Nearly four decades after his death, Sankara is being celebrated in Burkina Faso, a nation of 23 million people once known for its bustling arts scene and vibrant intellectual life — including Sankara's anti-imperialist and pan-African legacy.

“When I stepped inside the mausoleum, I felt the revolution,” said Timoté, a 22-year-old who said he came because of what he heard about Sankara at home and at school.

Sankara's mausoleum, designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré, has been the project of current military leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore.

Since taking power during a coup in 2022, Traore has presented himself as the new Sankara. He has named one of the main streets after the revolutionary leader, elevated him to the rank of Hero of the Nation and revived revolutionary slogans such as “Fatherland or death, we will win!” in most of his speeches.

The mission of the mausoleum is "to keep the flame of the revolution alive and to remind the world of Capt. Thomas Sankara’s fight to break the chains of slavery and imperialist domination,” Burkina Faso Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo said as he read Traore's statement.

Despite promising to fight the security crisis that pushed it to stage a coup, Burkina Faso's military leaders have struggled to deal with the worsening crisis. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.

Human rights groups say the military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship, crushing critics, while many have been killed by jihadi groups or government forces.

As people flocked to Ouagadougou to celebrate Sankara, life elsewhere in the country reflects a different reality.

“We can go out for a bit in the city center, but with caution,” said one student from Dori, the capital of the northern region, echoing concerns about restrictions on free speech and movement.

The student spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested.

Security concerns have permeated every aspect of life in Ouagadougou. Even the price of beer has skyrocketed as more places become inaccessible to traders.

“There are two Burkina Fasos,” said a teacher from the east, speaking on condition of condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “One where the streets are deserted at night, and another that comes alive to enjoy the cool evening air.”

People attend the inauguration of the mausoleum for Burkina Faso's legendary leader Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, Saturday, May 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

People visit the newly inaugurated mausoleum for Burkina Faso's legendary leader Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, Saturday, May 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Elia Borras)