MORE than 70 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to health officials.
Strikes occurred in the seaside humanitarian zone known as Muwasi as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been huddling there in damp winter weather.
The early morning strike killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior Hamas police officers.
Another Israeli strike killed at least eight people in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The men were members of local committees that helped secure aid convoys, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital which received the bodies.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Three Palestinians were also killed in an Israeli strike that hit a group of people walking in the street in Maghazi in central Gaza.
Later on Thursday and early on Friday, Israeli strikes in central Gaza, including Maghazi and the Nuseirat refugee camp, killed at least 24 people, including children, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
The number of people dead has not been officially confirmed although news outlet Al-Jazeera is reporting that it is more than 70 people.
Hospitals update
The director of the Palestinian NGO Network Amjad Shawa said this is “one of the most critical stages of the war” as the Israeli military surged its attacks.
He told Al-Jazeera: “We have over 25,000 cancer, kidney and heart patients who are in serious need of urgent medical intervention, and some need to be evacuated outside Gaza Strip after the collapse of the health system and with over 80% of hospitals out of service.
“We are losing these patients on a daily basis, I’m talking about children, women and elders who are in need of help.
“But there is no real intervention from the international community.”
He continued: “We have limited capacity to deal with the huge needs of the war and the destruction of the socioeconomic structure in Gaza.
“Our people are freezing in their tents most of which have already deteriorated, some filled with cold water from the rain.”
Meanwhile, delegations from the 15-member states of the UN Security Council (UNSC) are to meet later today for an emergency meeting to discuss Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza, especially the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north.
The session was requested by Algeria though is not expected to lead to any tangible results on the ground in Gaza.
The United States is also once again expected to block any potential joint statement condemning Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.
The UNSC are also expected to discuss the operations of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which has been banned by Israel based on the unsubstantiated claim that it works with Hamas.
