At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a beachfront cafe frequented by activists, journalists and local residents in western Gaza, doctors and eyewitnesses said.

Rescue teams recovered 20 bodies and evacuated dozens of injured people from the Al-Baqa Cafe, an open-air tented establishment along the beach, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Civil Defense told the BBC.

The spokesman said emergency crews were still working in the deep crater left by the blast.

The cafe attack

“I was heading to the cafe to use the internet a few meters away when there was a huge explosion,” Aziz Al-Afifi, a cameraman for a local production company, told the BBC.

“I rushed to the scene. My colleagues were there, people I meet every day. The scene was horrific: dead bodies, blood, screams everywhere,” he said.

Videos posted by activists on social media appear to show the moment a missile, allegedly fired from an Israeli warplane, hit the spot. Images captured the aftermath of the attack, with bodies strewn across the ground.

The Al-Baqa cafe had become a popular space for journalists, activists, and teleworkers, offering internet access, seating, and workspace along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.

The strike came after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight, causing the mass displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families, according to witnesses.

Dozens of wounded civilians were evacuated to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to local reports.

The bombing came after one of the largest evacuation orders issued since the resumption of the war in March.

Pressure for a Ceasefire

All of this comes amid mounting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refocus efforts on a ceasefire agreement.

Days earlier, a senior Hamas official said mediators had stepped up efforts to negotiate a new ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, but acknowledged that negotiations with Israel remained at a standstill.

A two-month-old ceasefire collapsed in March when Israel launched renewed attacks on Gaza. The ceasefire agreement, which went into effect on January 19, was supposed to have three stages, but it did not get past the first.

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, which was partially eased after 11 weeks due to pressure from US allies and warnings from international experts about famine.

This partial easing led to the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial humanitarian organization backed by the United States and Israel. Since the FGH took over distribution operations, there have been almost daily incidents of deaths and injuries among Palestinians seeking aid.

Eyewitnesses and medics blame Israel, which says it only fires warning shots at people it considers a threat.

Eyewitness accounts from Gaza

Gaza City residents said dozens of Israeli airstrikes targeted densely populated eastern neighborhoods such as Shujaiya, Tuffah, and Zeitoun.

Videos posted by activists on social media captured scenes of chaos and explosions lighting up the night sky, followed by flames and thick plumes of smoke over the horizon.

One of the strikes reportedly hit a school in Zeitoun that was housing displaced families.

“The explosions kept going… they looked like earthquakes,” said Salah, a 60-year-old resident of Gaza City, to the Reuters news agency.

“On the news we hear that a ceasefire is coming; on the ground we see death and hear explosions,” added the father of five.

Reports indicate that the five fatalities occurred in an attack on the Al Shati camp, west of Gaza City.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had previously ordered residents to leave much of northern Gaza in anticipation of the attacks.

Most of those displaced overnight moved west of Gaza City rather than to the southern region as ordered by the IDF.

“We had no choice but to leave everything behind,” explained Abeer Talba, a mother of seven who fled Zeitoun with her family.

“We received recordings of phone calls in Arabic informing us that we were in a combat zone and that we should evacuate immediately.

“This is the seventh time we have been forced to flee,” she lamented.

She added: “We are back on the streets, without food or water. My children are starving.” Death is more pleasant than this.”

What Comes Next

Amid this growing humanitarian crisis, fears are growing that the evacuation orders and continued airstrikes are part of a broader Israeli plan to expand its ground offensive in Gaza.

However, there is also speculation in the Israeli media that some generals believe the military operations in the Strip are close to meeting their ultimate objectives.

This is also the view of many former army leaders, who fear that the Gaza campaign’s slide into a guerrilla war of attrition will lead to more deaths of hostages, civilians, and soldiers.

The Israeli prime minister’s next steps are being closely watched: while Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been banking on continuing the war until Hamas is defeated, it is under growing pressure, both domestic and international, to seek a new ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli army has begun its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

More than 56,000 people have died in the territory since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, while an estimated 50 Israelis remain hostage in Gaza, of whom around 27 are believed to have died.

Additional reporting by Hafsa Khalil.

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