Israeli strike in northern Gaza on building where displaced people were taking refuge kills dozens, officials there say

An Israeli strike on a five-story building where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in northern Gaza killed at least 34 people early Tuesday, more than half of them women and children, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said.

The ministry’s emergency service said another 20 people were wounded in the strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, near the Israeli border.

The Reuters news agency, citing a Gaza health ministry official, put the number of dead at 60 or higher, with dozens more wounded. And Reuters reported that the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said many people were believed to still be trapped under rubble.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has been waging a large-scale operation in northern Gaza for more than three weeks, targeting what it says are pockets of Hamas militants who have regrouped there.

The dead included a mother and her five children, some of them adults, and a second mother with her six children, according to an initial casualty list provided by the emergency service.

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it was overwhelmed by the wave of wounded people from the strike.

Israeli forces raided the medical facility over the weekend, detaining dozens of medics, the latest in a series of raids on hospitals since the start of the war. The military said it detained scores of Hamas militants in the raid on Kamal Adwan.

The Israeli military has repeatedly struck shelters for displaced people in recent months, saying it carried out precise strikes targeting Palestinian militants and tried to avoid harming civilians. The strikes have often killed women and children.

The Reuters news agency put the number of dead in the strike 55 or more, with dozens injured at At least 55 Palestinians were killed and dozens others wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said.

It added that many victims were believed to still be trapped under the rubble. 

Israel’s latest major operation in northern Gaza, focused on the Jabaliya refugee camp, has killed hundreds of people and driven tens of thousands from their homes in another wave of mass displacement more than a year into the war in the tiny coastal territory.

Israel has also sharply restricted aid to the north this month, prompting a warning from the United States that failure to facilitate greater aid efforts could lead to a reduction in military aid.

Palestinians fear Israel is enacting a plan proposed by a group of former generals who suggested the civilian population of the north should be ordered to evacuate, aid supplies should be cut off, and anyone remaining there should be considered a militant.

The military has denied it’s carrying out such a plan, while the government hasn’t said clearly whether it’s conducting all or part of it.

On Monday, Israel’s parliament passed two laws that could prevent the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees – the largest aid provider in Gaza – from operating in the Palestinian territories. It was the culmination of a long-running campaign against UNRWA, which Israel contends has been infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the agency.

The move prompted a growing international outcry, according to Agence France-Presse, with even such staunch supporters of Israel as Britain and Germany voicing displeasure.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was “gravely concerned.” Germany said it would “effectively make UNRWA’s work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible … jeopardizing vital humanitarian aid for millions of people.”

Hamas said it was an act of “Zionist aggression” while its ally Islamic Jihad depicted it as “an escalation in the genocide.”

The U.N. and UNRWA also voiced strong objections.

But Israel lawmaker Yuli Edelstein said in parliament that, “There is a deep connection between the terrorist organization (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it,”

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Around 90% of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced from their homes, often multiple times.