Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 70 people, including 22 children, health officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes pounded northern and southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children, according to hospitals and health officials, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “no way” he would halt Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory before Hamas is defeated.

At least 50 people, including 22 children, were killed in strikes around Jabaliya in northern Gaza alone, according to hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry.

The strikes came after Hamas on Monday released an Israeli-American hostage, a gesture that some thought could lay the groundwork for a ceasefire, and as U.S. President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia during a multi-day trip to Gulf countries.

Israel's military refused to comment on the strikes. It warned Jabaliya residents to evacuate late Tuesday, citing militant infrastructure in the area, including rocket launchers.

In Jabaliya, rescue workers smashed through collapsed concrete slabs using hand tools, lit by the light of cellphones, to remove children's bodies.

In comments released by Netanyahu’s office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission ... It means destroying Hamas.”

There had been widespread hope that Trump’s visit to the Middle East could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in a 2023 intrusion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,928 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.

Israel’s offensive has obliterated vast swathes of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times.

Israeli media reported that one target in a strike on a hospital in Khan Younis on Tuesday was Mohammed Sinwar, younger brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces last October. The military would not comment beyond saying it had targeted a Hamas “command and control center” which it said was located beneath the European Hospital.

Mohammed Sinwar is believed to be Hamas’ top military leader in Gaza. Israel has tried to assassinate him multiple times over the past decades.

A senior health official in Gaza said Wednesday that ambulances were no longer able to reach the hospital due to damage from the strike, which had also forced the facility to suspend surgical operations.

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director general of Field Hospitals at Gaza's Health Ministry, said the strike had severely damaged the hospital’s water and sewage systems, as well as its courtyard. He added that the Israeli military hit a bulldozer brought in by hospital authorities to repair the area to allow ambulances reach the building.

“Until these damages are fixed, we will have to shut down most departments of the hospital,” he said, adding that he had no information about Israel's claimed target of the strike.

International food security experts warned earlier this week that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign.

Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation while 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.

French President Emmanuel Macron strongly denounced Netanyahu’s decision to block aid as “a disgrace” that has caused a major humanitarian crisis.

“I say it forcefully, what Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is doing today is unacceptable,” Macron said Tuesday evening on TF1 national television. “There’s no medicine. We can’t get the wounded out. Doctors can’t get in."

Macron, who visited injured Palestinians in Egypt last month, called for the reopening of the Gaza border to humanitarian convoys. “Then, yes, we must fight to demilitarize Hamas, free the hostages and build a political solution,” he said.

Netanyahu retorted that Macron was “echoing the false propaganda” of an extremist militant organization.

Gaza’s population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive. Israel’s 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food in the territory. Markets are empty of most items, and prices for what remains have skyrocketed.

The United Nations says the number of meals that charity kitchens are providing in Gaza has plunged to around 260,000 under Israel’s blockade, down from more than 1 million a day in late April.

Charity kitchens are the last lifeline for most of Gaza’s population, but they are rapidly shutting down because supplies are running out. In the first two weeks of May, at least 112 kitchens – more than 60% of the total – closed, the U.N. humanitarian office said Wednesday. Only 68 kitchens still operate.

The World Health Organization said it has only enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, a fraction of the need. Thousands of children have been diagnosed with malnutrition in recent weeks.

Israel says the blockade is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Israeli officials have asserted there is enough food in the territory after a surge in aid entered during the recent two-month ceasefire.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled and Lee Keath in Cairo and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

Palestinians evacuate after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for several schools and a hospital in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians load bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli army airstrikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, 48 people were killed in the strikes, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A Palestinian woman mourns her son, killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, 48 people were killed in the strikes, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, 48 people were killed in the strikes, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, 48 people were killed in the strikes, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn children from their families who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, the strikes killed 48 people, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, 48 people were killed in the strikes, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn children from their families who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. According to local hospitals, the strikes killed 48 people, including 22 children. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians evacuate patients from the European hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, after it was hit by an Israeli army airstrike, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The Israeli military said it had carried out a strike targeting what it said was a Hamas "command and control center" located beneath the hospital. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Iran's top judge hinted at fast trials and executions for those who were detained in nationwide protests against the country's theocracy, even as activists said Wednesday that the death toll rose to levels unseen in decades, with at least 2,571 people killed so far.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, made the comments about trials and executions in a video Tuesday, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would “take very strong action” if executions take place.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early Wednesday. The figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

After Trump was informed of the number of deaths, he warned Iran's leaders that he was terminating any negotiations and would “act accordingly.”

Details of the crackdown began emerging Tuesday as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications countrywide when the protests broke out.

Here is the latest:

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service dropped its fees to allow more people to circumvent the Tehran government’s strongest attempt ever to prevent information from spilling outside its borders, activists said Wednesday.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has not officially announced the decision and did not respond to a request for comment, but activists told The Associated Press that Starlink has been available for free to anyone in Iran with the receivers since Tuesday.

“Starlink has been crucial,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian whose nonprofit Net Freedom Pioneers has helped smuggle units into Iran, pointing to footage that emerged Sunday showing rows of bodies at a forensic medical center near Tehran.

“That showed a few hundred bodies on the ground, that came out because of Starlink,” he said in an interview from Los Angeles. “I think that those videos from the center pretty much changed everyone’s understanding of what’s happening because they saw it with their own eyes.”

Starlink is banned in Iran.

Tens of thousands of mourners thronged the streets near Tehran University for a mass funeral of security forces and civilians on Wednesday.

After Iranian state television reported that 300 coffins would be on display at Tehran University, Associated Press reporters there saw around 100. It wasn’t clear why there was a discrepancy.

Many held Iranian flags and identical photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and their relatives. The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, were stacked at least three high in the backs of trucks and covered with red and white roses and framed photographs of people who were killed. The crowd chanted and beat their chests in response to an emcee speaking from a stage.

One man in the crowd held up a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump during the Pennsylvania assassination attempt, emblazoned with: “The arrow doesn’t always miss!”

The presenter, his voice booming across the crowd, blamed the U.S. for the unrest. “All of our problems are because of America, today’s economic problems are because of American sanctions. Death to America!” he yelled, prompting the same chant from the tens of thousands of people, dressed mostly in black.

India's Embassy in Tehran urged Wednesday all Indian nationals to leave Iran, citing what it called an “evolving situation” in the Islamic Republic.

The statement, posted on X, also advised Indian citizens to remain highly vigilant and avoid areas where protests are taking place.

German police said Wednesday the two climbed over a fence into embassy grounds and tore down an Iranian flag. Both wanted to hoist two pre-Islamic Republic flags but failed, German news agency dpa reported.

They left the grounds when guards used pepper spray and were detained on the sidewalk outside.

The incident happened late Tuesday.

Major Middle East governments were discouraging the Trump administration from waging a war with Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” in the volatile region, an Arab Gulf diplomat said Wednesday.

The Cairo-based diplomat, who was given anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media, said major governments in the region, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, have been “in constant contact” with the U.S. administration over a potential American strike on Iran that could explode into a “full-blown war.”

Such a war will “certainly” have dire repercussions “not only on the Middle East but also on the global economy," he said.

Iranian state television said Wednesday’s mass funeral in Tehran would include 300 bodies of security force members and civilians. The funeral is expected to take place at Tehran University under heavy security.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the crackdown killed at least 2,571 people. It said 2,403 of the dead were protesters and 147 were government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.

Gauging the demonstrations and the death toll from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll, given the communications being disrupted in the country.

Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran could impact India, an expert said, as New Delhi already faces existing 50% U.S. trade levies due to its purchases of Russian oil.

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, a senior economist at the Chintan Research Foundation in New Delhi, said the bigger risk is not India-Iran trade, but India’s access to the U.S. market, as its exports to Iran are modest.

India mainly exports rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to Iran, while importing dry fruits and chemical products. Textiles and garments, gems and jewelry and engineering goods are likely to be the most vulnerable sectors, he said.

Trump’s latest move also could affect India’s investments in Iran, including the strategically important Chabahar port, which gives India a trade route to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe while bypassing Pakistan, Mukhopadhyay said.

Iran’s judiciary chief signals fast trials and executions for those detained in nationwide protests.

Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television on Wednesday.

He emphasized the need for swift action, saying delays would lessen the impact.

His remarks challenge Trump, who warned Iran about executions in an interview aired Tuesday.

Trump stated the U.S. would take strong action if Iran proceeded with executions. The situation highlights escalating tensions between the two countries over the handling of the protests.

Dozens of Pakistani students studying in Iran have returned home through a remote southwestern border crossing, a Pakistani immigration official said Wednesday.

Federal Investigation Agency spokesperson in Quetta city, Samina Raisani, said about 60 students crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through Gabd border in Balochistan province with valid travel documents.

More students were expected to return through the same crossing later Wednesday, she said.

Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Tuesday that Iranian universities had rescheduled exams and permitted international students to leave the country.

The satellite internet provider Starlink now offers free service to people in Iran who have access to the company's receivers, activists said Wednesday.

Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who helped get the units into Iran, told The Associated Press that the free service had started. Other activists also confirmed in messages online that the service was free.

Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with the outside world since authorities shut down the internet Thursday night as nationwide protests swelled and they began a bloody crackdown against demonstrators.

Starlink did not immediately acknowledge the decision.

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)