At least 50 Palestinians reported dead after air strikes across Gaza
At least 50 Palestinians have been killed and dozens injured in Israeli air strikes on Beit Lahia, Khan Younis and Al Maghazi in the Gaza Strip.
Israel continued its bombing campaign in parts of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, while Tel Al Zaatar, Al Sikka, Jabalia Al Balad and Beit Lahia in the north also endured a barrage of strikes, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra said on Thursday.
In Al Maghazi refugee camp, a UN-run school doubling as a shelter was shelled overnight.
“They tell you there are green zones and other zones with other colours. All those are rumours, there are no safe zones in Gaza,” AFP quoted a Gaza resident as saying on Wednesday.
World Health Organisation staff reported that “hungry people again stopped our convoys today in the hope of finding food”. Gazans are facing severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine.
More than 55,000 Gazans have been injured in the conflict, and more than 335,000 displaced people are suffering from infectious diseases, the Health Ministry said.
Since the war began in October, Israeli forces have destroyed 65,000 houses and damaged 290,000, the Gaza government has said.
About 115 mosques have been destroyed, while 200 mosques and three churches have suffered heavy damage. Dozens of government buildings and 92 schools and universities have been reduced to rubble.
Israeli army spokesman Admiral
Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday that strikes on a central refugee camp in Gaza had entered a third day and an additional brigade had been sent to Khan Younis, the recent focal point of urban combat.
He suggested a possible “expansion of fighting in the north” along the Lebanese border, where Israel has been exchanging artillery fire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia since the start of the war.
After visiting the border, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the military had approved plans for “a variety of contingencies”. “We need to be prepared to strike if required,” he added.
Amid the air strikes and escalation in southern Gaza, the WHO said on Wednesday that the enclave’s population was in “grave peril”.
Gaza’s government said 311 medical personnel have been killed in the war, along with 40 civil defence officers and more than 100 journalists.
About 7,000 people are missing, it added, 70 per cent of them women or children.