'Soul of my soul': Palestinian grandfather killed in Israeli airstrike

A well-known Palestinian man, Khaled "Abu Diaa" Nabhan, has been killed in an airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, according to reports. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory on Sunday killed at least 40 people, including several children, an Al Jazeera TV cameraman and three rescuers.

Nabhan, who had gained attention for his heartfelt farewell to his three-year-old granddaughter, Reem, in 2023, was among the casualties of the latest Israeli bombardment of the central Gaza Strip. His earlier tribute to Reem, killed in an airstrike, was captured in a viral video where he referred to her as "soul of the soul," his grief felt across the globe.

Al Jazeera said its cameraman Ahmed al-Louh was killed "in an Israeli bombardment" that targeted Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed Louh was killed in the strike that "targeted the Civil Defence site" in Nuseirat camp, also killing three members of the rescue agency, AFP reported.

The Israeli military confirmed in a statement it killed Louh, saying he was a militant and "previously served as a platoon commander" for the militant group which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza.

The military said the civil defence site was being used as a "command and control centre" by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Israel's military has repeatedly accused Al Jazeera journalists of links to Hamas or its ally Islamic Jihad.

Al Jazeera has fiercely denied the accusations and said Israel -- which has passed a law to ban the network -- has systematically targeted its employees in Gaza.

Louh is the fifth Al Jazeera journalist to be killed since the war in Gaza began, and the network's office in the territory has been bombed.

Later on Sunday, Bassal told AFP that an Israeli strike on a school used as shelter by displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza's main city killed at least 12 people, including a number of children.

"One missile hit the third floor of the school" in Khan Yunis, also injuring 35 people, Bassal said.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Tent hit

Another strike on a house in Shujaiya, east of Gaza City, killed six people, according to the civil defence spokesman.

Bassal earlier told AFP that rescuers working through the night recovered the bodies of 18 people, including three children.

He also reported more dead in a strike on a house in central Gaza City and another that his a tent sheltering dozens of displaced people in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

AFP images showed distraught relatives mourning the bodies of loved ones at a hospital in Gaza City. Some corpses lay on the floor covered in blankets.

On Sunday, the military confirmed it had carried out strikes in the northern Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia areas.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 45,028 Palestinians and wounded 106,962 since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Monday.