Israeli Air Strikes Kill Dozens in Gaza as Conflict Escalates
Israeli air strikes on residential areas in south Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 47 people, according to medics. The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency also reported scores more casualties at a school in the north, which was sheltering displaced civilians. The Israeli military has not yet commented on the attacks. The Palestinian group Hamas stated that 200 people have been killed or injured. Palestinian officials accused the Israeli army of forcefully evacuating Al Shifa Hospital in the north, Gaza’s largest, and abandoning the staff, patients, and displaced individuals to dangerous journeys southwards on foot. Israeli forces denied this accusation, claiming that the evacuations were voluntary. Al Shifa hospital was seized by Israeli forces earlier in the week, who alleged that it housed an underground Hamas command center.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, following an incursion by the militant group into Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people, according to Israeli reports. Since then, Israel has extensively bombed Gaza City and issued warnings for civilians to leave the area. As a result, two-thirds of Gaza’s population, totaling 2.3 million people, have been displaced. Gaza authorities have reported a death toll of 12,300 people since October 7, including 5,000 children.
While the Israeli military said that five soldiers have been killed in Gaza since Friday, bringing the total casualties to 57, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian civilians to relocate away from Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza. The aide hinted at an imminent Israeli ground offensive into the south.
Overnight, 26 Palestinians were killed and 23 wounded in an airstrike on residential apartments in Khan Younis. Eyad Al-Zaeem, whose family members were killed in the attack, claimed that they had evacuated from northern Gaza as ordered by the Israeli army, only to be caught in the strike. In Deir Al-Balah, six Palestinians were killed in another airstrike on a house. A third airstrike killed 15 Palestinians in a house located close to a shelter for displaced people.
Israel alleges that Hamas hides fighters and weaponry in civilian buildings, a claim Hamas denies. The Israeli military stated that over the past 24 hours, it had attacked numerous targets in Gaza, including militants, command centers, rocket launch sites, and munitions factories.
Israel’s focus on Al Shifa Hospital during its ground advance in north Gaza has raised concern internationally. Israeli forces took control of the hospital, claiming clashes with Hamas fighters outside. Palestinian health officials reported that all but about 125 of the war-wounded or sick patients, along with newborn babies, doctors, and nurses, were forced to leave Al Shifa by Israeli troops. The hospital is now facing dire conditions without fuel, food, medicine, or water. However, the Israeli army denied these claims, stating that its forces had acceded to a request from the hospital’s director to expand and assist in further voluntary evacuations through a secure route.
As the conflict enters its seventh week, humanitarian efforts have come to a halt due to a lack of security guarantees and fuel. The lack of aid has resulted in raw sewage flowing on the streets in some areas of Gaza. Despite calls for humanitarian pauses, there is no sign of a ceasefire.
