ReutersThe Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said at least 87 people were killed and more than 40 injured in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday in the town of Beit Lahiya, north of central Palestine.
The Ministry said that many people are still under the rubble after the residential areas collided.
Israel said it was checking reports of casualties but added that earlier – lower – figures published by Hamas were “exaggerated”. In recent weeks, the Israeli army has been bombing northern Gaza, saying it wants to prevent Hamas fighters from congregating there.
The UN’s top official warned that “the nightmare in Gaza is intensifying” and the war “must end now”.
The coordinator of the UN peace process, Tor Wennesland, said that “there is no safe place in Gaza”.
In a statement, Tor Wennesland said he condemned the ongoing attacks on civilians.
“This war must end, the hostages of Hamas must be released, the expulsion of the Palestinian people must stop, and the citizens must be protected wherever they are. Humanitarian aid must be delivered without obstacles,” he said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Department updated the death toll from 73 to 87 after the Israeli strike in Beit Lahia.
The previous number of casualties was provided by Hamas late on Saturday.
The department also said that the ambulance workers could not reach there due to the Israeli strike.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the strike as a “precision” attack on a “Hamas Terror target”. It told the BBC it was “doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians”.
Dr. Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the Israeli strike in Beit Lahia destroyed many buildings, and “more than four, five residential houses… collapsed”.
These strikes were aimed at every residential area, said Dr. Sabbah, between the Abu Jidian roundabout and the Al Qassam mosque.
Dr. Sabbah added that a number of people died and many were injured “some of them came to the hospital, some of them are still full of debris”.
He called for an end to the “siege” of hospitals in northern Gaza and for “life to return to normal… before it’s too late, before our nation is destroyed”.
Several photos – including the one below – have since surfaced on social media showing the treatment of the injured from Beit Lahia at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The footage has been confirmed by the BBC as being from the hospital.
It is providedIsrael launched a renewed military offensive in northern Gaza in early October, saying it was trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.
In particular, Israeli forces surrounded and bombed the populated area of Jabalia, including the urban refugee camp – at least 33 people were reported dead in Friday’s strike.
Aid agencies have warned that almost no aid has entered the area in the past few weeks. Israeli figures show that aid deliveries to Gaza overall have decreased compared to the same period in September.
On Saturday, UN chief Joyce Msuya said Palestinians in northern Gaza were enduring “unspeakable horrors” and called for an end to these “atrocities”.
Israel has repeatedly denied that it is blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza – but on Tuesday the US has told it to increase access within 30 days or risk cutting off US military aid.
At least 42,603 people have been killed and 99,795 wounded in Gaza since the war began last October, Hamas-run authorities said.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leaving around 1,200 people dead and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response, launching a ground attack on the fenced-in area.
Elsewhere, Israel continued its airstrikes against the Lebanese group Hezbollah in an area south of Beirut on Sunday.
In a statement, the IDF said: “Earlier this morning, the IAF [Israel’s air force] carried out an intelligence-based strike on the directorate of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut”.
It added that several measures had been taken to “reduce the possibility of casualties”, including “issuing advance warnings to residents”.
The IDF also reported that approximately 160 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed after an army vehicle was hit by Israeli jets in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.
Israel has yet to comment.
Lebanon’s military has historically stayed out of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – but a number of its soldiers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the conflict escalated last month.
Hezbollah – Lebanon’s most powerful terrorist group – says it has been shelling Israeli positions in cooperation with Hamas in Gaza.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran.
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