Israeli strike kills at least six people during wedding in Gaza

At least 15 people were injured in the attack on a tent camp in Gaza City, according to local medical sources.

At least six people have been killed in a Gaza City tent camp where a wedding was taking place, according to local medical sources.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from the enclave on Saturday, said several projectiles exploded near a wedding tent, with shrapnel flying into surrounding areas.

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“The targeted tent was next door to the wedding tent,” where casualties occurred, said Mahmoud. “Shrapnel flew at a very high speed at the surrounding area into the displacement site school next door that was packed with displaced families.”

A source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera reporters on the ground that at least 15 people were injured in the attack, with many being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Women and children are believed to be among the casualties, Mahmoud said, adding that the casualty toll is expected to rise.

“According to relatives at the wedding, the tent was packed,” Mahmoud said.

“Within a few minutes, it turned from a happy occasion to something really sad and bloody.

“This is what Palestinians have been referring to about the anxiety, the fear, because of these attacks.”

The attack came amid continued Israeli violations of the so-called “ceasefire” agreement that took effect on October 10.

‘Horrific massacre’

Hamas spokesman Hazam Qassem issued a statement condemning the “horrific massacre”, which he said was part of Israel’s “continued escalation of its war of extermination against civilians”.

The attack was one of several reported in the enclave on Saturday, where regular Israeli bombardment has continued.

A separate strike earlier in the day in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis area hit another tent, killing a man who was scheduled to be married later in the day, according to local medical sources.

And in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood, Israeli military tanks and quadcopter drones opened fire near a children’s hospital, reported our colleagues on the ground.

The attacks came as Palestinian group Hamas convened for meetings with mediators and other Palestinian factions in Egypt to discuss the future of the enclave amid the beleaguered ceasefire process.

On top of Israel’s repeated attacks in recent months, over half of Gaza remains under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire’s terms.

The first phase of the ceasefire involved the release of the last Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

A transition to the second phase of the ceasefire, which was supposed to involve the disarmament of Hamas and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military, has been stalled for months.

Hamas’s Qassem had said this weekend’s meetings in Cairo would focus on ensuring the full implementation of the first phase of the agreement, including ending what he described as Israeli violations, reopening border crossings and allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

He said the discussions would also address issues related to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, including proposals concerning the deployment of international forces in Gaza and the disarmament of Palestinian factions.

In his statement after Israel’s deadly Gaza City attack Saturday, Qassem accused Israel of “working to undermine and destroy the agreement”.