Israeli strike in Gaza kills 25 people as US makes new push for a ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike hit the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, as U.S. President Joe Biden’s two top national security officials were in the region making a renewed push for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

The strike on a multistory residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp was just the latest in a series of Israeli attacks throughout Gaza that killed at least 54 Palestinians since late Wednesday night.

Palestinian officials at two of Gaza's remaining medical centers, Al-Awda Hospital in the north and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the center, reported together receiving 25 bodies from the Nuseirat strike — which also wounded 40 people, most of them children.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza. The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population.

The U.N. General Assembly's member nations approved a new resolution this week demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, although they do reflect world opinion — the vote Wednesday was 158-9, with 13 abstentions.

Photos from the scene in Nuseirat sent to journalists showed a completely collapsed building with people walking through its mangled and charred remains, smoke rising from piles of belongings strewn over the rubble. Palestinian rescuers were searching for more bodies trapped beneath the rubble.

The strikes Thursday evening came as Palestinian medics were still surveying the morning’s deadly toll of fierce Israeli attacks, including on Nuseirat camp. Palestinian medical officials had reported at least 28 people killed earlier in the day, including seven children and a woman. One of the strikes flatted a house in Nuseirat, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.

Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local aid coordination committees set up by displaced Palestinians and the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Eight of the men were killed in an attack near the southern border town of Rafah and the remaining seven were killed by a strike in Khan Younis.

The committees aim to establish secure aid convoys, which often face challenges such as looting, hoarding and profiteering in their efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies to Palestinians facing the risk of famine.

Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory.

In Gaza's isolated and devastated north, Awda Hospital said an orthopedic doctor, Saeed Jouda, was shot in the head and killed Thursday morning. The Health Ministry said the doctor was killed by an armed quadcopter drone as he was traveling from Kamal Adwan Hospital to treat patients at Awda Hospital.

The two medical facilities are in northern towns where Israel has waged a blistering offensive against Hamas militants since early October, allowing in almost no humanitarian aid and ordering tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine.

The latest bombardment came as Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, was holding official meetings in Israel as signs emerge that long-stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas could regain momentum. On Thursday, Sullivan revived hopes for a deal, telling reporters in Jerusalem that Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for another deal to end the war in Gaza.

Sullivan plans to travel next to Qatar and Egypt, key mediators in the ceasefire talks, as the Biden administration makes a final push on negotiations before Donald Trump is inaugurated.

Sullivan said “Hamas’ posture at the negotiating table did adapt” after Israel decimated the leadership of its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and reached a ceasefire there. “We believe it puts us in a position to close this negotiation,” he said.

Last month, the U.S. vetoes a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate Gaza ceasefire, objecting that the resolution did not link the truce to an immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas. The council’s 14 other members supported the resolution.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in the war in Gaza. The International Criminal Court found there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and his former defense minister bear responsibility for the war crime of starvation and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Isra Al Habash, mourns her father and brothers, victims of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Sahar Mohannamourns over the body of her brother, victim of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven childr en and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian children push a cart carrying jerrycans and plastic bottles of water at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian boy pushes a wheelchair carrying jerrycans and plastic bottles with water at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian children collect water in jerrycans at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of victims of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Asma Al Habash, mourns her brother and his family, victims of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians pray over the civilian victims of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The bodies of civilian victims of an overnight Israeli army airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters protest outside of the U.S. Embassy branch office during a visit by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to call for an immediate hostage release deal, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters protest outside of the U.S. Embassy branch office during a visit by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to call for an immediate hostage release deal, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinian children play on the dirt next to the tents of a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian boy pushes a wheelchair carrying jerrycans and plastic bottles with water at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

U.S National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, speaks during a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday, Dec. 2024. (Abir Sultan/Pool via AP)

Palestinians stand outside their tents at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A U.S. senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying at night over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns the unmanned aircraft.

“We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday, as concerns about the drones spread across Capitol Hill.

People in the New York region are also concerned that the drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, he said, demanding more transparency from the Biden administration.

The White House said Thursday that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said, echoing statements from the Pentagon and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh has said they are not U.S. military drones.

In a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said they and their federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, “continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.”

The agencies said they have not corroborated any of the reported sightings with electronic detection, and that reviews of available images appear to show many of the reported drones are actually manned aircraft.

“There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space,” according to the statement.

The drones appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security.

The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once.

The worry stems partly from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.

In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off.

Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.

Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey appeared to be larger than those typically used by hobbyists.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was frustrated by the lack of transparency, saying it could help spread fear and misinformation.

“We should know what’s going on over our skies,” he said Thursday.

John Duesler, president of the Pennsylvania Drone Association, said witnesses may be confused about what they are seeing, especially in the dark, and noted it’s hard to know the size of the drones or how close they might be.

“There are certainly big drones, such as agricultural drones, but typically they are not the type you see flying around in urban or suburban spaces,” Duesler said Thursday.

Duesler said the drones — and those flying them — likely cannot evade detection.

“They will leave a radio frequency footprint, they all leave a signature," he said. "We will find out what kind of drones they were, who was flying them and where they were flying them.”

Fantasia, a Morris County Republican, was among several lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the sightings from the New York City area across New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia. It is unknown at this time whether the sightings are related.

Duesler said the public wants to know what's going on.

“I hope (the government agencies) will come out with more information about this to ease our fears. But this could just be the acts of rogue drone operators, it’s not an ‘invasion’ as some reports have called it,” Duesler said. “I am concerned about this it but not alarmed by it.”

Associated Press reporters Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and reporter Darlene Superville and videojournalists Serkan Gurbuz and Nathan Ellgren in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

FILE - Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 1, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., Dec. 5, 2024 (Brian Glenn/TMX via AP)

In this image taken from video, what appears to be drones flying over Randolph, N.J., Dec. 4, 2024. (MartyA45_ /TMX via AP)