Israeli airstrike hits 2 homes, killing dozens of Palestinians
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — More than 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes in Gaza, rescuers and hospital officials said Saturday, a day after the U.N. chief warned that nowhere is safe in the territory and that Israel’s offensive creates “massive obstacles” to distribution of humanitarian aid.
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a long and private conversation a day after the Biden administration again shielded Israel in the diplomatic arena. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution that calls for speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza, but not for a cease-fire.
“I did not ask for a cease-fire,” Mr. Biden said of the call. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister “made clear that Israel would continue the war until achieving all its goals.”
Also Saturday, the Israeli military said troops had arrested hundreds of suspected militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 to Israel for further interrogation. The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had so far been sent to Israeli lockups.
Israel declared war after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and more than 53,000 have been wounded, according to health officials in Gaza.
Despite mounting calls for a cease-fire, Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all the hostages are freed. The Biden administration has shielded Israel in the diplomatic arena. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution that calls for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza, but not for a cease-fire.
The Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday evening said 201 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.
Airstrikes on Friday flattened two homes, including one in Gaza City, where 76 people from the alMughrabi family were killed, making the attack one of the deadliest of the war, said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense department.
Among those killed were Issam al-Mughrabi, a veteran employee of the U.N. Development Program, his wife, and their five children.
“The loss of Issam and his family has deeply affected us all. The U.N. and civilians in Gaza are not a target,” said Achim Steiner, the head of the agency. “This war must end.”
Later Friday, a strike pulverized the home of Mohammed Khalifa, a local TV journalist, killing him and atleast 14 others in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat, according to officials at the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital where the bodies were taken.
Israel blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll, citing the militants’ use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes since Oct. 7, and has largely refrained from commentingon specific attacks.
Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history, displacing nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and leveling wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave. More than half a million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving, according to a report this week from the United Nations and other agencies.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, men walking through the rubble tried to shoo away cats feeding on unclaimed bodies.