An Israeli airstrike levelled the Al-Baqa Café on Gaza City’s Mediterranean waterfront on 30 June, killing at least 30 Palestinians and injuring dozens, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and hospital officials. The café, one of the enclave’s few remaining sites with internet and electricity, was crowded with families, students and remote workers when the missile struck without warning.
Palestinian photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab was among the dead, while freelance reporter Bayan Abu Sultan was wounded. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Hatab’s death raises the number of media workers killed in Gaza since October 2023 to roughly 227, making the territory the deadliest place in the world for journalists during the current war.
The strike came amid a wider Israeli bombardment and gunfire that the Health Ministry said left at least 74 people dead across Gaza the same day, including Palestinians shot while queueing for food aid near Khan Younis and Rafah. Israel’s military said the café attack was aimed at Hamas militants and that it is reviewing the incident, adding that “steps were taken to mitigate civilian harm.”
The latest attack underscores the intensifying humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to local health authorities, and where new evacuation orders and shrinking aid deliveries continue to displace and imperil Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
Israeli forces killed at least 95 people in Gaza on Monday with air raids that left 39 dead at a seaside cafe and gunfire that killed Palestinians trying to get food aid, say witnesses and health officials.
— in pictures
Israel's attack on coffee in Gaza kills dozens, and witnesses report dismembered bodies at the scene. Victims include children and the elderly, according to witnesses; Tel Aviv says bombing aimed at 'Hamas terrorists' (Leaf)
