Israeli Strike on Gaza Refugee Camp Kills at Least 33, Including Children
A devastating Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has killed at least 33 Palestinians, Al Jazeera reports, citing Palestinian authorities.
The attack, described as a “barbaric and heinous massacre” by the Gaza Government Media Office, primarily targeted the al-Sheikh Ali family.
Medics told Reuters that the strike hit a postal office sheltering displaced families, as well as nearby residential buildings. Graphic images from the scene depict young children covered in dust and blood amidst the rubble. In addition to the fatalities, some 50 people were injured.
The attack is the latest in a series of devastating strikes across the Gaza Strip, marking a grim escalation in the ongoing conflict that began in October 2023. The Gaza Government Media Office reported that Israeli strikes have completely destroyed at least 902 families’ homes in the past year, a statistic highlighting the widespread destruction inflicted on the civilian population.
Israeli authorities have yet to comment on Thursday’s attack. Throughout the conflict, Israel has often claimed, with limited evidence, that targeted buildings are being used by Hamas as operational centers. This claim has been made despite repeated attacks on hospitals, media outlets, and humanitarian aid workers.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in a staggering death toll: over 44,800 Palestinians killed, more than half of whom are women and children. A report released Thursday by Airwars, a group that monitors civilian casualties in air strikes, labeled Israel’s campaign in Gaza “by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians” it has ever recorded. The report found that civilian deaths in the first month of the war were almost four times higher than in any comparable period documented since Airwars’ inception in 2014.
Experts warn that the actual death toll is likely significantly higher, with thousands more potentially buried under the debris, and Gaza’s overwhelmed healthcare system struggling to cope.
Thursday’s strike on Nuseirat, a residential area within one of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps established in 1948, was not an isolated incident. In the Jabalia refugee camp, a leading doctor, Saeed Jouda, was fatally shot by Israeli forces while en route to treat patients. The conflict has claimed the lives of an estimated 1,057 healthcare workers.
The Gaza Government Media Office condemned the attacks, sayingng that they are part of an Israeli plan to cripple Gaza’s healthcare system, citing the prevention of essential medical supplies from entering the besieged enclave as evidence of genocide.
