At least 103 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza in the past 24 hours, including 13 in a single strike on the Jabalia refugee camp, according to the Hamas-run civil defense agency. The strike reportedly hit a building that housed a prayer hall and a charity clinic.
Medical staff at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported receiving dozens of casualties overnight and into Thursday, many of them children.
Strikes on Rafah alone reportedly targeted at least nine locations, with local health officials reporting at least 56 bodies taken to hospitals there. According to the Gaza health ministry, the European Hospital was hit earlier this week and is now out of service.
New evacuation orders have been issued in parts of Gaza City, as the Israeli military warned of an upcoming offensive “with intense force.” The latest wave of bombardments has sparked fresh displacement, with thousands fleeing after the evacuation orders were announced.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported scenes of panic in Gaza City as residents scrambled to escape. “We’re seeing families carrying their belongings and taking to the streets,” he said. “The children and elderly are carrying whatever they’re able to carry … They don’t know where to go. There is no safe place for these people – the so-called shelters have already been destroyed by Israeli bombs.”
The Israeli blockade, which has restricted the entry of food, water, medicine, and shelter supplies, has now been in place for ten weeks, and the entire enclave is at imminent risk of famine.
The latest escalation coincides with the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” marking the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948.
Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a gradual expansion of the ongoing military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan, citing sources familiar with the decision.
The current war began following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants, who killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. marking the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
Since then, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed according to local health authorities by Israeli bombardments and a military ground operation. Analysts Corey Scher of the CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, using satellite data, estimate that nearly 60.4% of buildings across Gaza had been damaged or destroyed — large swaths of Gaza have been reduced to rubble and its civilian infrastructure decimated. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with critical shortages of food, water, and medical supplies.
