Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 79 people with death toll expected to rise
The bodies of 79 people killed by Israeli strikes have been taken to hospitals in the last 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said, but this is expected to rise as the total does not include hospitals in the north as they are now “inaccessible”.
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The strikes come amid Israel’s renewed military offensive on Gaza. A statement from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed they had struck more than 100 targets in Gaza on Friday.
Gaza’s health ministry reported today that the latest deaths took the total killed to 53,901 since October 7, 2023.
They said that 3,747 deaths had occurred in Gaza since Israel resumed the war on March 18 this year, which Israel says is in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting their ceasefire terms.
Read More: UK, France and Canada slam Netanyahu’s ‘egregious actions’ in Gaza and warn of sanctions
It’s been reported that among the latest deaths were nine of one Gazan doctor’s ten children.
Alaa Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser Medical Complex in the southern city of Khan Younis, was on duty at the time of the strikes, and rushed home to find her house was on fire.
Ms Najjar found her husband severely wounded, and just one of her children still alive. Her 11-year-old son remains in a critical condition after the strikes.
The children who didn’t survive were aged between 12 years and seven months old. The Gaza health ministry says two of these children are still under the rubble.
The IDF said in a statement it had struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces, and described the area of Khan Younis as a “dangerous warzone”.
They said they had evacuated civilians from the area, and “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review”.
The October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas killed some 1,200 people with 251 people abducted. The retaliatory offensive on Gaza has destroyed large sections of the city.
Israel has said it will continue to strike until Hamas disarms, and returns the remaining 58 Israeli hostages - though fewer than half of the hostages in Gaza are believed to still be alive.
Hamas has said they will only return the hostages upon the return of more Palestinian prisoners, as well as a lasting ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from the territory.
Mr Netanyahu has rejected these terms, vowing to maintain control of Gaza and what he refers to as the “voluntary emigration” of much of its Palestinian population.
Israel announced this month they would be launching a major ground offensive to “seize and control” areas in Gaza.
The ground offensive began with a preliminary strike on around 150 sites - killing more than 300 people.
This offensive came amid an eleven-week blockade on the city, which restricted resources to its more than 2 million residents.
Codenamed “Gideon’s Chariots”, the offensive has attracted much condemnation. Israel had been facing pressure from the UN, as well as its own allies to allow more aid into the area, as warnings and images of famine had been circulating since the blockade.
As well as the UK, France and Canada threatening “concrete actions” if Israel continued its “egregious” military expansion in Gaza, Mr Netanyahu’s government has received multiple condemnations from the UN.
The blockade was eased on Monday, and the UN confirmed on Thursday that 90 lorries of aid had been allowed over the border after a three-day delay.
However, the UN has said this was “nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza”.
Since these latest strikes, UN Secretary General António Guterres has said that the aid authorised by Israel equates to a “teaspoon”, when a “flood of aid” will be required.