74 killed in Gaza as Israel forces strike a cafe and fire on people seeking food

At least 74 Palestinians were killed on Monday as Israeli forces launched a series of deadly airstrikes and opened fire on civilians desperate for food aid, according to witnesses and health officials.

Among the dead were at least 30 people, including women and children, killed in an airstrike on Al-Baqa Café, a seaside venue in Gaza City. The café was reportedly filled with civilians seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones – a rare functioning business amid 20 months of war.

“Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place,



shaking it like an earthquake,” said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside at the time of the blast.

Dozens were critically wounded in the strike, according to Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s emergency and ambulance services in northern Gaza.

Two additional airstrikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 more people, while another strike on a building near the town of Zawaida left six dead, hospitals reported.

Social media videos showed scenes of devastation — bloodied bodies strewn on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets.