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Hospital officials say an Israeli strike killed 4 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman

News

Hospital officials say an Israeli strike killed 4 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman
News

News

Hospital officials say an Israeli strike killed 4 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman

2026-03-15 17:47 Last Updated At:17:50

CAIRO (AP) — At least four Palestinians, including two boys and a woman pregnant with twins, were killed Sunday by an Israeli airstrike in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.

The strike hit a house in Nuseirat, an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, killing a couple in their 30s and their 10-year son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The fourth fatality, a 15-year-old neighbor, was taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat. The boy's young brother was wounded in the strike, the hospital said.

“We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong,” said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbor. “There was no prior warning.”

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The deaths were the latest fatalities among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than 2-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has still seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 650 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel says it has responded to violations of the ceasefire or targeted wanted militants. But about half of those killed have been women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

They were among more than 72,200 Palestinians killed in the war which was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The militant attack killed over 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage.

The health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

A boy pushes a bicycle carrying jerrycans of water through a sandstorm in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A boy pushes a bicycle carrying jerrycans of water through a sandstorm in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.

Tehran accused the United States of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence, as the war showed no signs of ending.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the vital Strait of ​Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.

Here is the latest:

A tanker was seen loading oil Sunday on Iran’s Kharg Island, two days after the U.S. struck military facilities there.

The vessel-tracking platform TankerTrackers said seven more tankers are seen at the anchorage. Five had already loaded fuel oil, while two are waiting to load, according to satellite imagery. It wasn’t immediately clear who the tankers belong to.

Bahrain said Sunday its air defenses have intercepted 125 missiles and 211 drones since the Iran war began.

The small island nation — home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet — has been among the most affected by Iranian strikes, which have hit ports, a hotel, a refinery and a water desalination plant. Similar in size to Singapore and less than one-third the size of Rhode Island, it relies on U.S.-made air defense systems. At least one person has been killed in the attacks.

The International Organization for Migration said Sunday that deteriorating conditions in Iranian cities were “driving increasingly complex mobility patterns.” It says the destruction of homes and facilities that provide basic services are pushing many Iranians to northern provinces, where they think they could be safer.

The U.N. agency said people have been displaced to more than 20 provinces and that shelters were facing strain throughout Iran. Iranians are also fleeing to neighboring states, the agency said, including nearly 32,000 to Afghanistan and nearly 4,000 to Pakistan, even though airports and most border crossings — especially to Iraq — are closed.

Iran’s Health Ministry says U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed 223 women and 202 children since the start of the war on Feb. 28, according to Mizan, the official Iranian judiciary news agency.

The Iranian Red Crescent has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed.

A U.S.-Israeli attack early Sunday morning targeted an impoverished residential neighborhood in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA said.

The strike, which occurred southeast of the city, destroyed several housing units belonging to workers and people supported by the state welfare organization, the report said. It said a number of homes were destroyed and several people were injured. There were no reports of fatalities.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or the U.S. On Friday, Israel said it targeted a missile facility in Shiraz. It also has gone after what it says are checkpoints erected by Iran’s paramilitary Basij force.

Neutral Switzerland says it refused permission for two overflights by U.S. reconnaissance planes “in the context of the war in Iran.”

The government said late Saturday that Switzerland’s neutrality law forbids overflights by parties to a conflict that have a military purpose in connection with that conflict. But it does allow humanitarian and medical transit, as well as flights unconnected with the conflict.

Switzerland said it did give clearance for two U.S. transport aircraft to fly over the country on Sunday and for a newly serviced plane to transit on Tuesday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed Sunday to hunt down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

“If the criminal Zionist prime minister is still alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force,” the IRGC said in a statement.

The Israeli military says Iran has launched a new barrage of missiles toward Israel.

It says sirens are alerting residents in areas under attack and air defenses have been activated.

“This reflects a confused policy that missed the point, lost its direction, and lacked wisdom,” Anwar Gargash, adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, wrote on social media late Saturday.

Gargash was referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments in which he accused the U.S. of using the UAE as a base for its attacks on Iran's Kharg Island.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain ahead of an assault on Sunday, while the United Arab Emirates reported a missile attack, urging residents to shelter in safe locations.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said its systems intercepted and destroyed 10 drones over the capital, Riyadh, and the kingdom’s eastern region.

Iran’s joint military command accused in a statement Sunday "the enemy” of using copycat Iranian drones to attack neighboring countries and pin the blame on Tehran, state media reported.

Tehran usually uses “the enemy” as a reference to the United States and Israel.

The statement said copies of Iran's Shahed-136 drone, known as LUCAS, were used to hit “irrelevant targets in the regional states," including attacks on Turkey, Iraq and Kuwait. No evidence was provided.

The military command also said Iran openly shares its targets, which it describes as U.S. and Israeli interests, and urged trust and cooperation from regional countries.

The United Arab Emirates reported a missile attack Sunday morning.

Authorities urged residents to remain in safe locations.

The U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.

The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.

The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safely.

Israel’s military said early Sunday that Iran launched another round of missiles toward Israel.

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and loud booms were heard.

A bulldozer clears debris from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A bulldozer clears debris from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Debris litters the street as smoke rises from buildings damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Debris litters the street as smoke rises from buildings damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Policemen stand guard next to the banners showing portraits of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Policemen stand guard next to the banners showing portraits of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman displays a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as she waves her country's flag during a campaign in support of the government at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman displays a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as she waves her country's flag during a campaign in support of the government at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli security forces inspect damage at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Holon, central Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli security forces inspect damage at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Holon, central Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Rescue workers inspect an apartment damaged in an Israeli airstrike as thick smoke fills the building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Rescue workers inspect an apartment damaged in an Israeli airstrike as thick smoke fills the building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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