At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in a new attack by the Israeli military in central Gaza, according to hospital reports.
The al-Awda hospital said 16 people were killed following an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that several people were also injured.
An Israeli military spokesperson said that it “continues to attack terrorist targets as part of its operational activities in the Gaza Strip.”
According to residents of Nuseirat, a prominent tower was also destroyed in the attack.
The Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza says more than 44,300 people have been killed and almost 105,000 injured in the territory since the war began almost 14 months ago. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the military has killed “almost 20,000 terrorists” in Gaza so far. The claims cannot be independently verified.
‘Diminishing conditions for survival’ in northern Gaza
Also on Thursday, the UN’s Palestinian agency – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – estimated that up to 75,000 people are still in the embattled northern Gaza Strip.
“For over 50 days, they have been facing diminishing conditions for survival,” UNRWA wrote in a post on X.
It said the areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun have been cut off from humanitarian aid for weeks due to heavy fighting.
The UN has attempted to reach these areas 91 times to provide assistance since October 6, UNRWA said, but “82 of these attempts were outright denied while 9 of them were impeded.”
A spokesman for the Israeli military said it was checking the reports, arguing that Israel recently opened further crossings into the Gaza Strip to enable more aid deliveries.
Israel is aiming to destroy the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Several towns in northern Gaza are considered Hamas strongholds. Israel accuses Hamas of deliberately hiding among civilians and of repeatedly intercepting aid deliveries.
Smoke and dust rise from an apartment building destroyed by an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central part of Gaza city. Saed Abu Nabhan Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
