Published 15 Minutes Ago
A senior Israeli military official told the BBC on Tuesday that the deadly strike was carried out on a five storey residential building in Beit-Lahia, in northern Gaza, after a “spotter”, who had binoculars on the roof and was observing Israeli forces.
Gaza’s Hamas health ministry reported that more than 90 Palestinians were killed or gone missing under the rubble. This included 25 children. The building collapsed due to the strike.
The official from the military said that it was not a pre-planned strike and that troops were unaware of the building’s use as a shelter by displaced people.
They also claimed that there were discrepancies in the number of deaths reported by the military and what they had observed.
The US, Israel’s closest ally demanded an explanation and described the strike as “a horrific incident with a horrible result”.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, said that Israel “did not do enough” to provide the answers the US had requested.
“They’ve told us what they said publicly, namely that they are investigating the matter,” added he.
Israel does not permit the BBC or other international media to report independently from Gaza, making it difficult for us to verify the facts on the ground. We rely instead on video footage and eyewitness testimony.
Social media videos posted a few hours following the strike showed bodies wrapped in blankets, and people collecting body pieces at the strike site.
Umm Malik Ab Nasr told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today program on Tuesday that her family‘s house was destroyed and that she had been among the survivors who were pulled from the rubble.
She said that the house of the Awda family next to her was bombed at around 00.30 or 01:00. “We rushed in to help them and host them, but their daughter [died] at our home.”
“At 04.00, the Abu Nasr multi-storey home collapsed on us. They [Israeli forces] bombed a house that was housing 300 displaced people. These people were seeking refuge in our homes. “We hosted them because they weren’t Palestinian armed groups, but just civilians.”
She added, “My husband and some other young men remain under the rubble. They have not yet been pulled out.” “My husband’s aunt and her five children remain under the rubble.”
In a recorded voice message on Tuesday, the director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital – which has only two doctors and limited nurses following an Israeli raid last Thursday – stated that the hospital had received the remains of more than 25 victims killed in the strike. He also said that another 77 people were trapped under rubble.
Dr Hussam Ab Safiya said that about 45 injured people, including women and children, were also brought to the hospital by horse-drawn carriages or by carrying them.
Tor Wennesland said that it was “the latest in a deadly series of mass casualty incidents in Gaza’s north, along with a massive displacement program, which raises serious concerns regarding violations of humanitarian laws”.
Since Israel launched its ground offensive against Hamas fighters in Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and Beit Hanoun (nearby) on 6 October it is reported that hundreds of people have been killed.
Gaza City has lost more than 70,000 residents, but the UN estimates about 100,000 people are still living in dire conditions with severe shortages of water, food and medical supplies.
The offensive also forced the closures of essential services such as medical facilities, firefighting and search and rescue, as well water wells, bakeries and bakeries.
Israel launched a campaign against Hamas as a response to the group’s unprecedented attack in southern Israel on 7th October 2023. In that attack, approximately 1,200 people died and 251 were taken hostage.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 43,160 Palestinians have died in Gaza since that time.
* Published 6 Hours Ago
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