Two-thirds of people Israel killed in strikes were women and children

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Israeli forces killed at least 436 people in 100 simultaneous strikes across the Gaza Strip, shattering the fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 436 people were killed including at least 183 children, 94 women, 34 elderly people and 125 men. At least 678 others were injured, many critically, with more still trapped under the rubble.

Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, SANAD, identified 23 locations attacked by the Israeli military on Tuesday, from dawn until approximately 2pm local time (12:00 GMT). These locations are mapped below.

(Al Jazeera)

Israeli attacks targeted various areas across the Gaza Strip, from north to south, including Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, Gaza City, Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. Areas that had been designated as safe humanitarian zones, including the al-Mawasi area, were also attacked.

In western Gaza City, a group of civilians, including a woman with special needs, was attacked in front of al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital.

Additionally, two schools sheltering displaced families, al-Tabin School in Daraj, Gaza City, and Dar al-Fadhila School northwest of Rafah City, were bombed. At least 25 people were killed.

A Palestinian woman gestures as people inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a tent camp housing displaced people, in the al-Mawasi designated ‘safe zone’, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 18, 2025 [Hatem Khaled /Reuters]

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said people in Gaza were left “terrified, helpless and devastated” following the attacks amid the Israeli blockade of aid and electricity cuts.

“People are starving. They do not have access to food. The water desalination plant that was providing water for 500,000 Palestinians is not working [due to Israel cutting off electricity],” she said. “With all this happening, Palestinians wake up to a massive series of attacks in different areas of Gaza.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the renewed bombing of Gaza was “only the beginning” and that Israel would press ahead until it achieved all of its war aims – destroying Hamas and freeing all the captives.

Entire families wiped out

Entire families have been wiped out again. Among them was the family of Ramy Abdu’s sister Nesreen whose home was bombed in Gaza City at about 4:30am (2:30 GMT). Abdu is the chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Nesreen, her children Ubaida, Omer, and Layan, as well as Ubaida’s wife, Malak and their young children, Siwar and Mohammed, were all killed.

Israel killed my sister and her children tonight, along with her entire family.

Israel may kill us at will, burn us alive, and tear us apart, but it will never succeed in uprooting us from our land.

Justice and accountability await—no matter how long it takes.
Omer & Layan pic.twitter.com/aINB6AM2td

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) March 18, 2025

As of October 2024, Israel’s attacks on Gaza had wiped out 902 entire families, erasing them from the civil registry. This means every single one of their members was killed.

Additionally, at least 1,364 Palestinian families were left with only one surviving member, while 3,472 Palestinian families were reduced to just two surviving members.

Israeli attacks continue

Overnight, at least 27 Palestinians were killed as Israeli attacks on Gaza continued for a second day.

The Ministry of Health reports that at least 49,547 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 112,719 wounded in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. This means one in every 50 people in Gaza has been killed, and one in every 20 has been wounded.

On February 3, the Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, noting that thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble were presumed dead.