More than 90 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, local officials said, the latest in recent months as it launches a new offensive into the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. It was the deadliest attack.
This came hours after Israel’s parliament outlawed the main UN aid agency in a move that could curb supplies of medicine, food and education in the devastated territory.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah has appointed former deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem as its new leader following Israel’s killing of powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah and his alleged successor. was nominated.
Officials say there are no doctors available to treat the injured
According to the Gaza government media office, the airstrike struck a five-story building in the northern city of Beit Lahir, home to about 200 people. It added that about 93 people were killed, another 40 were missing and dozens were injured.
The nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities, had no doctors to treat the injured after days of siege by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. .
“Without intervention, critically ill patients will succumb to their fate and die,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
More than 43,000 people have been killed in a year-long Israeli military offensive on the enclave that began after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, local officials say, and Israeli authorities say 1,200 people have been killed and another 250. announced that someone had been kidnapped.
“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the Beit Lahia area today (Tuesday). The details of the incident are under investigation,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The paper urged the media to “act with caution, as the information released by Hamas sources has proven to be highly unreliable in past incidents.”
The IDF is “conducting targeted operations and endeavoring to avoid harm to non-involved civilians. We confirm that the area has been evacuated by the IDF and is currently an active combat zone.” We will emphasize that.”
Medical workers evacuated injured and cancer patients from Beit Lahia’s Kamal Adwan Hospital on Monday. AFP – Getty Images
UNRWA ban raises aid concerns
As aid groups and officials warn that the crisis in northern Gaza is worsening, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law on Monday that could worsen the crisis.
The law prohibits UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestine, from operating in Israel or having contact with Israeli authorities.
This is a highly controversial move, drawing criticism from Israel’s allies, including the United States.
The internationally accepted view is that the agency plays an essential role in mitigating the humanitarian catastrophe occurring in Gaza. But Israel has long criticized UNRWA, claiming it has infiltrated Hamas and has stepped up its opposition since October 7.
UNRWA was established in 1949 to assist the 700,000 Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes during the war over the creation of the state of Israel. It is now the main source of food, water, medicine and other necessities for 2 million people in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli law will take effect within three months and will severely restrict, if not hinder, UNRWA’s activities in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, to which Israel controls access.
The group’s president, Philip Lazzarini, said the vote was “unprecedented” and “nothing short of collective punishment” for Palestinians after more than a year of “utter hell”. In a post on X, he said the bill would deprive 650,000 children of their education and accused it of violating Israel’s obligations under international law.
“This is the latest in an ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role,” he wrote.
In Washington, the US is “deeply concerned” about Israel’s bill, which would outlaw an agency that “plays a vital and critical role in delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in need in Gaza.” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Monday news conference.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just returned from a diplomatic tour of the Middle East that included a visit to Israel, which receives more than $3 billion in annual military aid from the United States.
And last week, a joint statement from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom expressed “serious concerns” about the bill. The agency said it was providing “essential and life-saving humanitarian assistance” but that without it, delivery would be “severely hampered, if not impossible.”
