Israeli attacks in southern Gaza have killed at least five Palestinians and injured dozens, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports.
Monday’s attacks on Rafah and Khan Younis injured at least 30 people, Wafa said.
The injured were transported to the Nasser Medical Complex, but power cuts could make it difficult to access care for the injured, the report said.
Palestinian officials said 40 bodies arrived at hospitals over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 to 37,124 and more than 84,700 injured. Thousands more dead are believed to be buried under the rubble of the devastated enclave.
In Rafah, the town on Gaza’s southern edge where Israel launched a ground offensive last month, residents said Monday that tanks had advanced deeper northward in the early morning hours. They were on the outskirts of Shaboura, one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the heart of the city.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for an attack on Israeli forces, saying their fighters had “killed and injured” soldiers.
In a statement on Telegram, the Qassam Brigades said their fighters detonated explosives in a booby-trapped house while Israeli forces were inside.
“Immediately after the arrival of help, our (fighters) destroyed the surroundings of the house which were destroyed by mortar shells,” the statement added.
About half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents had taken refuge in Rafah before last month’s attack. Since then, a million people have fled the region, according to the United Nations.
Israel launched a large-scale attack last week in central Gaza, around the small town of Deir el-Balah, the last town not yet to have been stormed. On Monday, residents said the Israelis had withdrawn from some areas but were continuing airstrikes and shelling.
Residents of the Nuseirat refugee camp, north of Deir el-Balah, were still clearing rubble after Israel freed four captives in a large raid on Saturday. Palestinian officials said 274 people were killed in the raid, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the ongoing assault.
In a video obtained by the Reuters news agency from Nuseirat, Anas Alyan, a resident standing in front of the ruins of his home, described how Israeli soldiers in shorts appeared in the streets, shooting wildly as F-16s and quadcopters fired from the air.
“Everyone who moved in the street was killed. Anyone who moved or walked was immediately killed,” he said.
“There are still children under this building. We don’t know how to remove them,” he said, pointing to a ruin. “Today we found martyred children in this building,” he said, pointing to another.
Gaza hospitals, crippled by months of Israeli attacks and blockade, have appealed for help as they struggle to treat patients.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudary, covering Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital from Deir el-Balah, said an additional emergency department had been opened to cope with the massive influx of injured patients after the Saturday raid.
The hospital, which runs on a single generator, remains inundated with sick and injured patients and is performing surgeries “every hour,” she said.
“Indescribable” destruction
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said more than half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by Israeli attacks since the war began on October 7.
“The destruction in Gaza is indescribable,” he said on X, citing data from the United Nations Satellite Center.
“Clearing the rubble will take years. Healing from the psychological trauma of this war will take even longer,” added UNRWA while calling for a ceasefire.
“This suffering must end,” he said.
Separately, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israel continues to keep the vital Rafah border crossing with Egypt closed, “amid acute and imminent famine in the Gaza Strip.”
“This application of collective punishment against the Palestinian population in Gaza not only further aggravates the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, but also constitutes a direct violation of the May order of the International Court of Justice relating to provisional measures and international humanitarian law,” the medical charity said. said on X.
The Israeli occupation continues to close the #Rafah Crossing amid impending acute famine in the Gaza Strip.
📌 This application of collective punishment to the Palestinian population in #Gaza not only further aggravates the humanitarian situation in the… pic.twitter.com/8suRJK6dP1– PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 10, 2024
Khoudary said the flow of aid to Gaza has remained scarce and many people now eat “only one meal a day.”
“This is not only happening in the south but also in the north” of Gaza, Khoudary said, adding that markets are largely empty and the food available is difficult for most people to afford.
The U.N. World Food Program said Monday it had suspended aid deliveries to Gaza via a U.S.-built pier over security concerns.
The Gaza government’s media office said in a statement that Palestinians in Gaza have not “benefited” from the floating jetty. He said the jetty did not help alleviate the suffering of families or improve the dire humanitarian situation.
Since its installation about a month and a half ago, the media office said, only a “very limited number” of 120 aid trucks have arrived.
