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Israeli strikes on Gaza kill over 90 in 48 hours
Children and women were among the 15 people killed overnight, and some had been sheltering in a designated humanitarian zone, according to hospital staff, AP reported.
At least 11 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, several of them in a tent in the Muwasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are staying, hospital workers said. Israel has designated it as a humanitarian zone.
Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah city, including a mother and her daughter, according to the European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
There was no immediate Israeli military comment. Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy indefinitely large “security zones” inside the small coastal strip of over 2 million people.
Israel also has blockaded Gaza for the past six weeks, again barring the entry of food and other goods.
This week, aid groups raised the alarm, saying thousands of children have become malnourished and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, according to the United Nations.
On Friday, the head of the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean office, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, urged the new US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter.
“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand,” she said.
Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. Around 90% of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
Israel shattered a cease-fire last month and continued its deadly strikes on the Palestinian territory.