Huthifa Fayyad
Israeli forces
have killed nearly 100 Palestinians, including 25 children, in an air raid on
homes in north Gaza where displaced people were sheltering.
A displaced family on the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike
in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on 29 October 2024 (AFP)
The bombing late
on Monday targeted a five-storey building in Beit Lahia, a northern town that
has been under a severe Israeli siege and ground offensive for 24 days.
At least 93
fatalities have been confirmed, including 25 children, according to the
Gaza-based government media office. Forty more are missing.
The Palestinian
health ministry reported 150 wounded.
Footage aired on
Al Jazeera showed recovered bodies covered in blankets at the attack site. A
woman was seen mourning next to victims, including several of her children and
grandchildren.
“Who shall I cry
over?” she asked. “My sons? My daughters? My grandchildren? My siblings?
They’re all gone. No one is left for me.”
The targeted
building belonged to the Abu Naser family, which had recently taken in
displaced people expelled by Israeli troops from their homes in north
Gaza.
Between 300 and
400 people were sleeping in the building at the time of the strike.
Local media
reported that wounded people were dying due to the lack of functional hospitals
in north Gaza, a result of the systematic destruction of health services by
Israeli forces.
“We cannot treat
those wounded in the Beit Lahia massacre due to lack of resources,” Dr Hussam
Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, told Al Jazeera.
Kamal Adwan was
the last operational hospital in north Gaza before Israeli forces raided it
last week, detaining or expelling all medical staff except Abu Safia and
another paediatrician.
Other hospitals
in the area have ceased operations due to Israeli attacks and a blockade
preventing fuel, food and medicine from entering.
Survivors
seeking medical help for the wounded from the Beit Lahia attack were also
bombed, according to Abu Safia.
“Most of those
injured may die due to lack of resources,” the doctor said. “The world must act
and not just watch the genocide in Gaza.”
'Generals'
Plan'
The Israeli
military launched a new offensive in north Gaza on 5 October, which rights
groups describe as part of a plan to ethnically cleanse the area of
Palestinians.
This offensive
followed the controversial “Generals' Plan,” proposed to the Israeli
government, which aims to empty northern Gaza to establish a "closed
military zone".
"Those who
leave will receive food and water," stated Giora Eiland, a retired general
spearheading the proposal.
According to the
plan, anyone who stays would be labelled a Hamas operative and could be
killed.
The UN agency
for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, estimates that about 400,000 people remain in
northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
The besieged
areas are under a debilitating blockade and media blackout, with Israeli forces
accused of exacerbating starvation and malnutrition as part of the ethnic
cleansing plan.
Since the war on
Gaza began nearly 13 months ago, Israeli forces have killed more than 43,000
Palestinians and wounded over 100,000. More than 10,000 are missing and
presumed dead under the rubble.
At least 17,000
children and nearly 12,000 women are among the deceased, according to the
Gaza-based government media office.
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