At least 87 people were killed or missing under rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, authorities said.
The nighttime raid hit several homes and a multi-story residential building, known as the Beit Lahiya project, the Gaza government media office said.
On Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry said 87 people were killed or missing under rubble after the attack, adding that more than 40 people were injured.
Relief efforts have been hampered by a communications blackout and road obstructions in the northern enclave, where a 16-day Israeli military siege has cut off access to food, water, medicine and essential services.
Beit Lahiya is a town in the northern Gaza Strip, close to Jabalia and Beit Hanoon. The three cities are seriously affected by the Israeli offensive which also resulted in the cutting of telephone and Internet access.
From Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud said “the scale of the brutality of the latest attack” in Beit Lahiya continues to reveal itself, “with many people still buried under huge piles of rubble.
“A witness from the area described the massive explosion resulting from multiple airstrikes shaking the very foundations of the surrounding areas,” he said.
Mahmoud said large chunks of concrete blocked the path to the bombed areas, making it difficult for paramedics and members of the Palestinian Civil Defense to carry out rescue missions in Beit Lahiya, leading to more casualties, including a majority of women, children and the elderly.
“More than half of those killed are, in fact, people who were forced to evacuate Jabalia and other parts” of northern Gaza besieged by Israel, he noted.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudary, also in Deir el-Balah, said: “Civil defense teams are trying to pull people out of the rubble, either with their bare hands or with minimal equipment,” adding that they have managed to save a little girl. from the site on Sunday.
Among those killed in the Beit Lahiya attack were at least ten relatives of Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
“Today, while covering the massacre carried out by Israeli occupying forces in (Beit Lahiya), I was shocked to discover that one of the houses targeted by the airstrike belonged to my cousin,” he said. writes al-Sharif in an article on X.
A previous Israeli military attack in Jabalia killed at least 33 Palestinians. Residents and doctors said Israeli forces have tightened their siege on the Jabalia refugee camp, the largest of the enclave’s eight historic camps.
Residents of Jabalia said Israeli forces besieged a number of shelters housing displaced families before storming them and arresting many men. Images posted on social media showed dozens of Palestinian men sitting on the ground next to a tank, while others were led by a soldier to a gathering place.
The attack in Beit Lahiya came after Gaza health officials said three partially functioning hospitals treating seriously injured patients and housing thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza were now out of service after being wiped out intense Israeli fire.
Israeli forces bombed al-Awda hospital in Jabalia early Saturday and also shelled Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals in Beit Lahiya in the past few hours, Tel Aviv Tribune correspondents reported.
Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, condemned the Beit Layiha attack and what he called “horrific scenes” taking place there, adding that “nowhere is not safe in Gaza.
In a post on social media platform X, Wennesland called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians and stressed the need to protect displaced Palestinians.
“This war must end. Hostages held by Hamas must be released, Palestinian movement must stop, and civilians must be protected wherever they are.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 42,603 people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023.
The numbers are likely much higher, with around 10,000 bodies buried in the vast debris of destroyed buildings across the Gaza Strip.