Dozens of Palestinians have been killed after an Israeli strike destroyed several buildings in a residential area of Beit Lahiya in besieged northern Gaza, with the Health Ministry describing it as a “horrific massacre”.
According to witnesses and medical sources, at least 35 people were killed on Saturday evening with dozens more wounded, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said, reporting from central Gaza.
Local media reports said civil defence crews were not able to reach the site because of Israeli fire.
Abu Azzoum said multiple air strikes hit the densely populated area with no warnings given.
“People are trying to recover victims from under the rubble because civil defence rescuers are unable to reach the scene after first responders were targeted by Israeli forces earlier today,” he said.
“Beit Lahiya and Jabalia are considered to be the two main key urban centres in northern Gaza, and displaced families from other parts of Gaza have come to take refuge in shelters there. They’ve both been under heavy attack for more than three weeks now.”
Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that many of the killed and injured are children, women and the elderly.
Rescue efforts are being hampered due to a lack of ambulances and civil defence services, as Israeli forces have blocked access to the area, it said.
The air strike targeted at least five homes near the western roundabout in Beit Lahiya, belonging to the Abu Shdaq, Al-Masri, and Salman families, Wafa said.
Northern Gaza has been under a three-week ground assault by Israeli forces who are forcibly displacing tens of thousands of residents out of the area.
The Health Ministry reported that Israeli military strikes on Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have killed approximately 800 people over the course of a three-week offensive.
The Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan Hospital on Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction. At least 30 medical staff have been abducted and the hospital building has suffered widespread damage.
On Friday, the UN special rapporteur on health used a new term – medicide – to describe the widespread and systematic attacks by Israel on healthcare workers and facilities.
