Israel ratcheted up its attacks in the south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, where at least 90 people were killed overnight, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Witnesses said the Israeli bombardment was again focused overnight on Khan Younes, the largest city in Gaza’s south, although Palestinian media also reported intense fire around Jabalia in the north early on Saturday.
A child with a bloodied face cried on a gurney at Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younes, while ambulances carrying the wounded and the dead arrived to the sound of automatic weapons in the distance.
The United Nations says the war has displaced roughly 85 percent of Gaza’s people and warns better aid access is urgently needed as famine and disease loom.
Israel’s military offensive has moved further south in Gaza as the conflict has progressed.
Metawei Nabil, recently released by Israeli forces and bearing scars on his arms, told AFP he fled Beit Lahia in northern Gaza only “to face death” in the devastated southern city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
Some residents who fled the initial stages of the war in northern Gaza have begun returning to what remains of their homes.
In Gaza City’s Rimal district, “everything is destroyed, and the people are dying of hunger,” said Ibrahim Saada, who told AFP he lost his whole family.
Groups of isolated fighters still confront troops in northern Gaza, despite the Israeli military saying this month that Hamas’ combat structures in the north had been dismantled.
Since the beginning of the war on October 7, 24,927 people have been killed and 62,388 have been injured, declared the health ministry in Gaza on Saturday.
Furthermore, as reported by Israeli media, the families of the hostages staged a sit-in on Friday night in front of the private residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Caesarea, north of Tel Aviv. They are calling for an agreement to expedite the release of those still in captivity.
With AFP
