Condemnations pour in after Israel launches deadly strikes on besieged Gaza

Türkiye and Qatar have strongly condemned Israeli "aggression" on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Tel Aviv's air strikes killed at least 10 people, including a five-year-old girl, and wounded 75 others, triggering a barrage of retaliatory rocket fire from resistance fighters.

Türkiye on Saturday said it is "unacceptable that civilians, including children, lose their lives in attacks." Turkish Foreign Ministry urged "restraint and common sense" amid rising tension in the region following the deadly attacks on the blockaded enclave.

"We are deeply concerned about the rising tension in the region after the attacks. We emphasise the need to end these events before they turn into a new spiral of conflict," it said.

Qatar also joined Türkiye to condemn Israeli attacks on the Palestinians, urging "the international community to act urgently to stop the repeated attacks by the [Israeli] occupation against civilians, especially women and children."

Doha reiterated its "firm" position on the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Iran called the Israeli operation a "brutal attack" that resulted in the killing of "resistance commanders" and defenceless Palestinian people.

The UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process said he is "deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza."

"In the past few hours, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes. I am deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians," Tor Wennesland added.

READ MORE: Child and commander among 9 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Egypt mediating

Meanwhile, sources said Egypt is working to calm the latest escalation in Gaza.

An Egyptian security source told the AFP news agency in Gaza that Cairo's mediation efforts had been ongoing since Friday when Israel launched attacks on what it described as Islamic Jihad targets.

Israeli officials earlier referred to Egyptian mediation when briefing reporters about the bombardment, adding the strikes killed 15 fighters.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the strikes as a "precise counter-terror operation against an immediate threat", and announced the killing of Taysir al Jabari, who he described as Islamic Jihad's second-in-command.

Islamic Jihad said the Israeli bombardment amounted to a "declaration of war" before it unleashed an "initial response" of more than 100 rockets toward Israel.

An Egyptian source separately said that a delegation from Islamic Jihad may head to Cairo later on Saturday.

Hamas' Doha-based leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks with "Egyptian intelligence" over the violence, a Hamas statement said.

Five-year-old girl killed

Flames poured out of a building in the main Gaza City following the first round of strikes, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics.

Palestine's Health Ministry reported that "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among 10 people killed. 

Alaa Kaddum had a pink bow in her hair and a wound on her forehead, as her body was carried by her father at her funeral.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City for the funerals of Jabari and others killed in the air strikes.

Fresh Israeli strikes came a little more than a year after an 11-day war between Israel and Palestine in May 2021, which killed at least 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 in Israel and left the blockaded enclave's economy shattered.

Egypt, a historic broker between Israel and resistance movements in Palestine, negotiated the ceasefire that ended the fighting. 

A narrow strip of land where some 2.3 million Palestinians live on a patch of 365 square kilometres, Gaza remains blockaded by Israel from land, air, and sea since 2007.

READ MORE: Gaza power plant may shut down as Israel closes border