Dozens killed in Gaza as army launches new incursion in north

October 6, 2024 Middle East, News - Middle East

Hamas says 24 killed in mosque and school in central Gaza
Tanks push into northern Gaza for first time in months

At least 24 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.

Palestinian health officials said at least another 20 people had been killed since Saturday night in northern Gaza, after the army sent tanks into areas there for the first time in months, while urging residents to go to what it called safe zones in the south.

The strikes on the mosque and the school came as the war between Israel and Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary, and as Israel has been expanding its actions in Lebanon.

Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel had struck 27 houses, schools and displacement shelters across Gaza in the past 48 hours.

“These crimes take place amid difficult health conditions in Gaza Strip, and where the remaining hospitals are unable to provide good medical and health care as the number of injured and patients increase everyday,” it said.

The army on Saturday issued new evacuation orders in parts of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, just north of Deir al-Balah, forcing hundreds of families to leave their houses. The military statement said its forces aimed to operate against Hamas who waged attacks from the territory.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks pushed into the northern Gaza areas of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia overnight, and planes hit several houses, killing at least 20 people, according to medics.

The Israeli military said its forces had encircled the area Jabalia, the focus of its operations.
In one air strike, 10 people were killed in one house, and five others in another strike on a second home and residents described it as one of the worst nights in many months.

The Israeli military said its forces were operating in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, to fight Hamas, dismantle military infrastructure and prevent Hamas from regrouping.

It directed residents to head towards humanitarian-designated area in Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian and UN officials say no place in the enclave is safe including the humanitarian zones where Israeli missiles have hit several times.

“The war is back,” said Raed, 52, from Jabalia, before he and his family left for Gaza City on Sunday.

“Dozens of explosions from air strikes and tank shelling shook the ground and buildings, it felt like the early days of the war,” he told Reuters via a chat app.

Asked whether they would go to Al-Mawasi as the army requested, he replied: “As if they didn’t kill people displaced in the so-called humanitarian areas? We will not leave northern Gaza.”