At least 87 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit several multi-story buildings overnight Saturday on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, the enclave\u2019s health ministry said. <\/p>\n
The number killed includes 27 bodies retrieved so far and 60 people under the rubble. More than 40 people had been injured, including a number of very critical cases, the ministry said. <\/p>\n
Graphic footage showed the bodies of several children among the dead, many with extensive injuries. Other video showed numerous body bags at the hospital amid grieving relatives. Overnight footage showed rescue workers combing through tonnes of rubble in the search for survivors and victims. Daylight images appear to show that two or three substantial apartment buildings were flattened by the strike. <\/p>\n
One unidentified man at the scene said Sunday morning that there were displaced people in four homes that were destroyed. \u201cWe call on the international community to end the war,\u201d he said. \u201cWe beg you, we are civilians with no connection to anyone. We demand that you stop the war.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another woman, crying amid the damage, said a woman had held her legs while she was under the rubble. \u201cWe were sitting and talking to each other when suddenly a large concrete block fell on us,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat remains? They have killed all the people.\u201d <\/p>\n
The woman said that Israel \u201cdirected people to go to Beit Lahia and bombed them there.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Israeli military has issued a number of evacuation orders for northern Gaza this month where it has renewed its ground offensive. <\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s director also said the area around the hospital is coming under \u201cbombardment and direct gunfire.\u201d <\/p>\n
The United Nations\u2019 Special Coordinator for the Peace Process in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, in a statement expressed horror at the airstrike, saying that \u201cthe nightmare in Gaza is intensifying.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHorrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis,\u201d Wennesland said, adding that \u201ccivilians must be protected wherever they are.\u201d <\/p>\n
The airstrike comes as the Israeli military ramps up its operations again in northern Gaza, saying Hamas was regrouping in the area, and as Israel presses on with its war against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The military said it targeted the Hezbollah intelligence headquarters early on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s war on both fronts has shown no signs of abating despite the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Thursday after a year-long pursuit. <\/p>\n
Sinwar\u2019s death is the latest blow to the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, where the enclave\u2019s health ministry says more than 42,000 people have been killed since October 7. But Western officials have said that the pivotal moment could be used to cement a ceasefire and bring back hostages still trapped in the besieged territory. <\/p>\n
This story has been updated. <\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At least 87 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit several multi-story buildings overnight Saturday on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, the enclave\u2019s health ministry said. The number killed includes 27 bodies retrieved so far and 60 people under the rubble. More than 40 people had been injured, including a number of very critical cases, the ministry said. Graphic footage showed the bodies of several children among the dead, many with extensive injuries. Other video showed <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}