GAZA/JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Palestinians, including a woman, were killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a Hamas-run municipal police headquarters in central Gaza City, according to Palestinian sources.
A brief press statement issued by the police force said that Israeli aircraft targeted the police headquarters, resulting in a number of casualties.
Medical sources told Xinhua that at least nine people were killed, and 15 others sustained injuries and were transferred to hospitals in Gaza City.
Sources and witnesses said the airstrike caused a large explosion and scattered shrapnel around the headquarters, which is surrounded by tents housing displaced people.
In response to the airstrike, the Hamas-run interior authorities issued a brief press statement saying that the "Israeli occupation committed a new brutal massacre" against officers and members of the civilian police force in Gaza City.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli military released a statement, saying it carried out two airstrikes, one in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip and the other in Gaza City's Tuffah area. The strikes targeted two Hamas commanders, according to the statement.
The attacks came amid renewed diplomatic efforts to advance talks on the Gaza ceasefire plan. U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks on Monday and have agreed to establish two working groups to advance the demilitarization of Gaza and address infrastructure and public health needs in the war-devastated enclave.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu rejected a U.S.-backed 15-point roadmap for Gaza, insisting Israel will not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed. Hamas, in turn, tied any progress to arrangements concerning a ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, and future administration of the enclave. ■
