Dozens killed as Israel rains bombs, artillery on Gaza

• 10 killed while queuing for food in Jabalia; five children die in air strike on Shati camp
• Four burn to death, 40 badly injured in early morning air strike on Al-Aqsa Hospital
• 42,289 Palestinians killed, 98,684 wounded by Israeli aggression so far

GAZA: Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in northern Gaza on Monday, killing at least 10 people queuing for food, according to Palestinians medics.

Separately, Israeli shelling killed at least 22 people at a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, while four people were burned alive and 40 others wounded in an air strike that targeted displaced Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Hospital, in the early hours of Monday.

Gruesome footage of the aftermath of the late night attack showed people with IV lines crying out in pain as they burned to death in their tents in the hospital compound.

Hours later, an Israeli air strike killed five children in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said the children were playing near a cafe when they were killed by a missile fired from an Israeli drone.

Graphic images from the scene in the aftermath show the bloodied bodies of what appeared to be teenage boys, BBC News reported.

One of them looked to be clutching several glass marbles in his hand. “The Al-Mufti school was bombarded with a large volley of Israeli artillery, resulting in an initial death toll of 15 martyrs, including children, women and entire families, and 50 wounded,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency.

Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,289 Palestinians and wounded 98,684 since Oct 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said on Monday.

Also on Monday, tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood and forcing many families to leave their homes.

Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon permission for families willing to heed evacuation orders and leave the three towns.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the “large number of civilian casualties in the intensifying Israeli campaign in northern Gaza,” his spokesperson said.

“He strongly urges all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and emphasises that civilians must be respected and protected at all times,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024