Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in southern Gaza, health officials said, as the UN rights chief warned that the ‘darkest moment’ of the Israeli attack on Gaza took place in the north of the besieged territory.
Women and children were among at least 38 people killed Friday in Israeli air attacks that hit several homes in Khan Younis, health authorities said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said images showing the scene of the attack in Khan Younis “are disturbing, with many bodies lying on the ground in Nasser Hospital while parents and relatives bid farewell to the victims who have been transferred for burial.
Ahmed Sobh recounted how his cousin shouted: “Help me, help me.”
“We ran and found his children, a boy and a girl, martyred. His son was lying under the concrete column, it took us an hour and a half to get him out,” he told Reuters news agency.
Ahmed al-Farra said he dug through the rubble to rescue his loved ones, including his mother, adding that he lost 15 members of his extended family in the airstrikes.
“As I was trying to dig (my mother) out, I looked at this wall and I saw a tank aimed at me. I was thinking, “Should I dig or should I watch the tank,” what should I do? I dug it up full of fear. Everyone was doing the same thing, digging in fear,” he said.
Israeli army strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 72 people since Thursday evening, health authorities said.
The latest attacks include strikes on three homes in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where 25 people were killed and dozens more injured, medics said.
Later Friday, an Israeli airstrike killed nine people in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
More than 42,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its attack on Gaza in October 2023, according to Palestinian health officials.
The hospital “stormed”
As Israel continued its bombing of the territory, the UN rights chief warned that its offensive in northern Gaza could include “atrocity crimes”.
Israeli forces launched a new offensive in northern Gaza more than two weeks ago. Some 400,000 people are stuck in the region, mainly in Jabalia, Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya.
The Gaza government’s media office said at least 770 Palestinians were killed and 1,000 others injured in the assault, which entered its 21st day on Friday. Israeli forces also attacked Kamal Adwan Hospital, a day after tanks shelled the facility.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces “stormed” the hospital, “arresting hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced people from neighboring areas who were seeking refuge.”
At least 600 people were trapped inside, including 195 patients and 70 medical staff.
At least two children died in the intensive care unit after the hospital’s generators stopped working and the oxygen station was hit, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said it was “operating in the area” of the hospital based on intelligence indicating the presence of “terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”
“Criminal atrocities”
Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, warned Friday that Israel’s actions in northern Gaza “risk emptying the area of all Palestinians” and that “we face this which could amount to atrocity crimes.
Turk denounced the “incessant” bombings in northern Gaza and said that “the Israeli army has ordered hundreds of thousands of people to move, with no guarantee of return. But there is no way to leave safely.
In a statement, he said there were “more than 150,000 people dead, injured or missing in Gaza” since the war began just over a year ago.
“Unbelievably, the situation is getting worse by the day,” he said.
“My greatest fear is that, given the intensity, scale, scale and blatant nature of the Israeli operation currently underway in northern Gaza, this number will increase significantly. »
Turk called on world leaders to act, emphasizing that all states are required under the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
His statement underlined the urgency of the situation, warning that “today, the darkest moment of the conflict in Gaza is taking place in the north of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is effectively subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of famine.
The UN rights chief warned that there was “extremely limited access to this part of Gaza, (and) virtually no aid has reached the area for weeks, and restrictions illegal remain.”
“Many are now facing starvation. »
Ceasefire talks
The warning comes as the United States renews its push for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A Hamas official confirmed to Reuters on Friday that a delegation led by the group’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials.
The official said Hamas was determined that any agreement would end the offensive in Gaza, force Israeli forces out of the enclave and reach a deal to exchange prisoners for hostages.
American and Israeli negotiators will meet in Doha in the coming days to try to restart negotiations, officials announced Thursday.
Qatar and Egypt acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas during months of talks that collapsed in August without reaching an agreement.