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GAZA’S Mediterranean shoreline saw no sunset strolls Monday — only smoke, rubble, and rescue efforts, after a missile strike hit a well-known seafront café, killing dozens and deepening the civilian toll of a war that seems to spare no place of peace.

An Israeli airstrike struck Al-Baqa Cafeteria, a popular open-air café along the western Gaza coast, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more, according to eyewitnesses and medical responders. The café, frequented by journalists, activists, and residents looking for internet access and a momentary escape from the conflict, was reduced to debris.

Emergency teams from Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence said they recovered 20 bodies from the site and were still combing through a deep crater left by the missile. The blast struck during peak activity, leaving destruction scattered across the beachfront.

“I was on my way to the café to use the internet just a few meters away when a massive explosion hit,” Aziz Al-Afifi, a cameraman with a local production company told the BBC. He described the aftermath as chaotic and horrific, with injured bodies and screams filling the air.

Videos circulated on social media appeared to show the moment of impact, followed by footage of survivors and first responders sifting through rubble. As of Tuesday, the Israeli military had not released a statement about the strike.

The café bombing was part of a broader wave of Israeli air raids that struck densely populated neighborhoods across Gaza City overnight, including Shujaiya, Tuffah, and Zeitoun. Witnesses reported a relentless series of blasts that lit up the sky and forced families to flee once again.

In Zeitoun, one airstrike reportedly hit a school where civilians had taken shelter. Salah, a 60-year-old father of five, said the explosions felt like earthquakes and noted the disconnect between talk of ceasefires in the media and the continued violence on the ground.

In another strike on the Al Shati refugee camp, located west of Gaza City, five people were killed and dozens injured, according to local medics. Al-Ahli Hospital received the wounded as rescue teams scrambled to reach bombed-out areas.

Ahead of the airstrikes, the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza. While civilians were told to move south, many relocated westward within Gaza City. Abeer Talba, a mother of seven, said she received a recorded phone message in Arabic instructing her to leave immediately. It marked the seventh time her family had been forced to flee, now left with no food, water, or shelter. She said her children were starving and described life in displacement as worse than death.

The escalation follows the largest evacuation directive since the conflict resumed in March and coincides with renewed diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire.

Over the weekend, former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on social media that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was working on a deal with Hamas. A senior Hamas figure also indicated that mediators had intensified negotiations, though talks with Israel remain deadlocked.

A ceasefire agreement reached in January collapsed in March after Israel resumed military operations. The plan, designed in three phases, stalled after the initial stage. Following the breakdown, Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza, which it began easing after nearly three months amid international pressure and growing famine concerns.

The partially restored aid distribution is now managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.- and Israeli-backed entity. Since its establishment, aid lines have repeatedly seen violence. Medics and civilians accuse Israeli forces of targeting people queuing for food, while the military contends that only warning shots are used against perceived threats.

The ongoing war began with Hamas-led attacks on October 7 that killed roughly 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages taken into Gaza. Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports that more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Recent reports in Israeli media suggest some military leaders believe the core objectives of the Gaza campaign may be nearing completion. Several former army officials have voiced concerns that continuing the campaign risks drawing Israeli forces into a prolonged guerrilla-style conflict, with potentially devastating consequences for both hostages and soldiers.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu faces growing pressure at home and abroad to prioritize a ceasefire. While his stated goal has long been the total defeat of Hamas, the humanitarian toll and political consequences of prolonging the war are mounting daily — as is the number of lives lost.

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