Officials report at least 70 dead in new Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza

Jerusalem/Gaza (EFE).- Palestinian authorities reported this Saturday that at least 73 people were killed after Israeli warplanes bombed the town of Beit Lahiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip, “completely destroying a residential complex ” And many civilians were injured.

A statement from the government media office in the Gaza Strip said that “the Israeli occupation forces continue their apparent war of ethnic cleansing, eradication and destruction, this time in the Beit Lahiya project in the Northern Governorate of the Gaza Strip.” Committed a terrible massacre.

Local media, quoting the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, also reported the attack and said that many people were still trapped under the debris and that rescue teams could not reach them, amid Israeli military shelling and artillery attacks.

Israel’s siege of Gaza continues

Furthermore, Wafa assured that Israeli drones fired on tents “in the courtyard of Kamal Adwan hospital housing displaced families” in the same northern city.

Gaza Health Ministry sources confirmed to EFE today that nearly 500 people have been killed since Israeli troops resumed their offensive in Jabaliya, in the north of the Gaza Strip, more than 15 days ago.

Similarly, he indicated that the siege under which the main hospitals are has left them without the capacity to care for more patients.

Tanks attack on three hospitals

Earlier this Saturday, Israeli tanks surrounded and fired on the three main hospitals in the north, which are vital for the treatment of the wounded in the region: Indonesian, Kamal Adwan and Al Awda.

A spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry condemned, “The Israeli occupation has intensified its attacks against the health system in the north of the Gaza Strip, by besieging and directly attacking three hospitals in the north during the past hours.”
Marwan Sultan, director of the hospital based in the northern city of Beit Lahiya, indicated that Israeli artillery struck the second and third floors, “putting the lives of patients and medical staff at risk.”

Critical situation in Yabaliya area

In recent hours, Israeli attacks have continued to reach the Jabaliya refugee camp, the largest in the strip. Local sources told EFE that due to the siege, thousands of people are sleeping without food in rural areas and dozens of bodies are scattered on the streets.

“It must be remembered that we are on the fifteenth day of the beginning of this operation, and compared to similar operations in the past, we are now talking about the high point of this operation, which has entered its third week. It has been, and generally is, the hardest weeks in such operations, Islam Bader, a Palestinian journalist in the Jabaliya refugee camp, explained to EFE.

The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said some 20,000 people were forced to leave the camp yesterday due to the intensity of the attacks.

The Israeli military, for its part, today assured that it has allowed the “safe” evacuation that hundreds of Palestinian civilians have already done in Gaza’s Jabaliya area.