Israeli airstrike kills 93 in northern Gaza apartment building

Dozens of Palestinians, including numerous women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, officials said.

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported 93 fatalities and 40 people missing, as rescue workers searched through debris on Tuesday morning.

Many victims belonged to the extended Abu Nasr family.

The strike occurred amid intensified Israeli military operations in northern Gaza over the past three weeks, targeting what Israel describes as regrouped Hamas militants.

The operations and evacuation orders have forced mass displacement, though roughly 100,000 residents remain in the area.

Marwan Al-Hams, a Gaza health ministry official, reported 150 wounded and 17 missing. Medical personnel confirmed 20 children were among the dead.

According to emergency services’ initial casualty reports, the deceased included a mother with her five children, some adult-aged, and another mother with six children.

Social media footage showed bodies wrapped in carpets and blankets outside the building, with Israeli drones audible overhead.

Eyewitness Ismail Ouaida, who assisted in recovery efforts, said: “There are tens of martyrs. Tens of displaced people were living in this house. The house was bombed without prior warning. As you can see, martyrs are here and there, with body parts hanging on the walls.”

Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, sheltering at a nearby school, told AFP that survivors were struggling to aid the wounded due to limited medical facilities.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of the nearby Kamal Adwan hospital, where Israeli forces recently detained medical staff, reported dozens of wounded arriving at the overwhelmed facility.

He urged evacuated surgeons to return, saying: “There is nothing left in the Kamal Adwan hospital except first aid materials. The healthcare system has completely collapsed.”

The Israel Defence Forces said they were investigating the incident.

Israeli forces have repeatedly struck displacement shelters, claiming precise targeting of militants whilst attempting to avoid civilian casualties.

These strikes have frequently resulted in women and children’s deaths.

The military confirmed detaining numerous suspected Hamas militants during the Kamal Adwan hospital raid, part of ongoing hospital operations since the war’s beginning.

The US has warned Israel that restricting northern Gaza aid could affect military support.

Palestinians have expressed concerns about a possible implementation of former generals’ proposals to evacuate northern civilians and restrict aid, considering remaining residents as militants.

The military denies executing such plans, while government stance remains unclear.

The strike preceded Israeli parliament’s passage of two laws potentially barring UNRWA, Gaza’s primary aid provider, from operating in Palestinian territories.

Israel claims Hamas has infiltrated the agency, which UNRWA denies.

The conflict began with Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. Approximately 100 hostages remain in Gaza, with one-third presumed dead.

Israel has killed at least 43,000 Palestinians, with 99,246 wounded. It has also killed around 3,000 in Lebanon and Syria, while around 3 million people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the war.

Experts, governments, United Nations agencies, and non-governmental organisations have accused Israel of carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people.