- Around 40 people remain missing under the rubble
Rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble in Beit Lahia on Tuesday after an overnight Israeli strike over a residential building in Gaza killed 93 people, according to Palestinian authorities.
Around 40 people remained missing under the debris, Gaza’s civil defence agency said.
Its spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, described the complete destruction of a five-storey home, adding that the area lacked medical facilities to treat the wounded.
The Israeli military said it was ‘aware of reports that civilians were harmed today (Tuesday) in the Beit Lahia area’.
‘The details of the incident are being looked into,’ it told AFP. ‘We emphasise that the area was evacuated by the IDF (Israeli army) and it is currently an active combat zone.’
An injured man reacts while sitting on the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on October 29, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas
Relatives of the Palestinians who died as a result of Israeli attacks on the 5-storey building belonging to the Abu Nasr family mourn as Palestinians and Civil Defense Teams conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of buildings in Beit Lahia
A general view of the destruction after the Israeli army attack on the 5-storey building
One witness, 30-year-old Rabie al-Shandagly, said most of the victims were women and children.
‘People are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care,’ said Shandagly, who had taken refuge in a nearby school.
‘The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble,’ he told AFP.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is locked in war with Israel in Gaza, condemned the Beit Lahia attack.
‘The enemy has committed another horrific massacre against our people, and northern Gaza is being subjected to a campaign of ethnic cleansing and systematic displacement,’ Hamas said.
The bodies of 15 people killed in the strike were brought to Kamal Adwan Hospital, which said it was overwhelmed and facing severe shortages of staff and supplies.
The hospital’s director, Hussam Abu Safia, said 35 wounded people, most of them children, were being treated at the facility.
‘We are still receiving a number of martyrs and wounded,’ Safia said.
At least 93 Palestinians died in the attack
Around 40 people remain missing under the rubble
As a result of the attack, many buildings in the area were completely destroyed and some buildings were heavily damaged
‘There is nothing left in the Kamal Adwan Hospital except first aid materials after the army arrested our medical team and workers when they invaded the hospital during the military operation in Jabalia,’ the director said.
Last week, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli troops had stormed the hospital, while the Israeli military said it was operating around it.
The World Health Organization said its teams managed to return to Kamal Adwan Hospital on Monday and provided information about the situation there.
‘They have found one orthopaedic surgeon, one paediatrician, a chief nurse and a handful of young doctors, and junior doctors and nurses try to attend to some 100-150 patients,’ WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.
‘This shows how difficult it is to provide any sort of aid in north Gaza,’ he told reporters in Geneva.
Since October 6, the military has conducted a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza, particularly in the areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanun, in what it describes as an operation to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
The bodies of 15 people killed in the strike were brought to Kamal Adwan Hospital, which said it was overwhelmed and facing severe shortages of staff and supplies
Palestinians wait in line at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) clinic in Deir al-Balah today to receive medication and medical treatment as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue
Palestinians and Civil Defense Teams conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of buildings after the Israeli army attack on the residential building
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, the military said it had carried out several ground and air strikes in Jabalia over the past day, killing about 40 militants.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee northern Gaza since the onslaught began, while the civil defence agency has reported hundreds of deaths.
The Gaza war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on October 7 last year, killing approximately 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza has killed 43,061 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group.
Hamas meanwhile says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
It comes as the World Food Programme on Tuesday called for immediate action to avert famine in the Gaza Strip, saying that the humanitarian crisis could soon escalate amid ‘severe’ restrictions on aid flows.
‘As the situation in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate, the likelihood of a larger group being impacted by famine will surely increase unless conditions on the ground improve,’ WFP said, calling for more crossing points to be open and safety guaranteed.