Dozens of people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Rafah district in the far south of the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from Israeli bombardments in northern Gaza.
At least 29 people were killed in airstrikes on residential buildings on Tuesday.
Israel had previously ordered Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza as it pounded the north in the first weeks of its assault on the besieged territory, but the army has since expanded its offensive south, leaving no safe place for civilians.
At least 13 Palestinians were also killed and many others injured in an Israeli air raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, a spokesman for the enclave’s health ministry said.
Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic’s Anas al-Sharif said the scale of the destruction was “massive”.
“The victims are just lying on the ground. Many were killed, their bodies torn to pieces. Even animals are not spared,” he said as residents carried the injured while others placed the bodies on donkey carts.
“The scale of destruction is massive because this area was deliberately bombed by Israeli warplanes. Bodies are everywhere. It is beyond description,” al-Sharif said.
An elderly man called it a “massacre.”
“This is a residential area and we are all peaceful civilians. A lot of us were venturing out to try and find food,” he said. “Where are those who talk about human rights? Look at all these civilians being killed in a residential area.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said Tuesday that “214 people killed and 300 injured have reached hospitals, and a large number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads.”
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