Four Palestinians killed in Jenin and 22 in southern Gaza, while Kamal Adwan Hospital raided in the north.
Israeli forces carried out deadly raids in the occupied West Bank while shelling numerous areas of the Gaza Strip ahead of a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to discuss an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” .
At least four Palestinians were killed Tuesday in the most intense raid in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army fired a missile at young people, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.
Meanwhile, 20 people – including seven children and at least five women – were killed in Israeli attacks on Rafah, in southern Gaza, on the border with Egypt, while two people were killed in Khan Younis in Israeli artillery bombardments, according to Palestinian medical sources.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said raids in Jenin continued, as some residents set up roadblocks to deter Israeli forces.
“The Palestinians claim that these raids continue without real deterrence and that Israeli forces have been given an open hand,” Ibrahim said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the Israeli army was blocking ambulances from the Jenin refugee camp, targeted by the raid, to treat the wounded.
Israeli forces also launched raids in other West Bank towns, arresting around 50 people in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Tubas, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have also intensified since the start of the war. Israeli forces or settlers have killed 270 Palestinians since October 7, bringing the total number killed this year to 487.
“The search continues”
As Rafah and Khan Younis recovered from nighttime air raids, concern grew for people feared trapped under the rubble.
Reporting from Rafah on Tuesday morning, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud said the search for survivors was continuing but was “very basic and simple”.
“There are no machines or equipment to help people,” he added.
More than two months of Israeli bombardment of Gaza have killed around 18,200 Palestinians, including 7,729 children, and displaced 90 percent of its population. Aid officials warn of a collapsing health system and “apocalyptic” conditions in the small pocket of southern Gaza, where most Palestinians are now crowded.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces attacked Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, a Health Ministry spokesperson said, after besieging and shelling it for several days.
In a post on Telegram, Ashraf al-Qudra added that Israeli forces were rounding up men – including medical staff – in the hospital courtyard, who he feared could then be arrested.
“We call on the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act immediately to save the lives of those in hospital,” he said.
The new attacks and rising casualties come ahead of a vote at the UNGA later Tuesday on an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
The last time the assembly met on this issue was on October 27, when 120 countries voted in favor of a Jordanian resolution calling for an “immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”.
Egypt and Mauritania invoked Resolution 377A(V) to convene an emergency meeting, which states that if the UN Security Council is unable to fulfill its primary responsibility of maintaining peace, the UNGA can intervene.
