Conflicts & War

At least 20 dead, 150 injured in attack on civilians in Gaza

Jerusalem, Jan 25 (EFE).- At least 20 people were killed and 150 sustained injuries in an attack on civilians waiting in a queue for humanitarian relief in northern Gaza on Thursday, said the health ministry of the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

“The Israeli occupation committed a new massacre against thousands of hungry mouths who were waiting for aid,” health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement on Telegram.

Al-Qudra warned that the death toll could be higher as dozens of seriously injured people were taken to the Al-Shifa Hospital which is operating at a bare minimum level.

The hospital lacks sufficient medical supplies and equipment after Israeli forces raided the medical facility in November.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said the death toll from an attack on a facility sheltering civilians on Wednesday reached 12 after two more injured people succumbed.

UNRWA said two shells hit its Khan Younis training center in the city’s western outskirts.

Thomas White, a senior UN official, said the training center in the area that has witnessed intense fighting in recent days, especially in its western area, where the Israeli Army has concentrated its offensive, has hosted thousands of people.

“Twelve people have now been confirmed dead with over 75 injuries, 15 of whom are in a critical condition,” White said.

“A number of missions to assess the situation were denied. Yesterday evening, the UN finally managed to reach the affected areas to treat trauma patients, bring medical supplies, and evacuate injured patients to Rafah,” said White, denouncing the blockage of previous missions to assess the situation.

Gaza health ministry official Youssef Abu al-Rish said he was coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross the supply of medicines, food, and fuel to the Khan Younis hospitals, as well as visits to medical personnel detained by Israel.

The attack on the shelter center occurred two days after at least six displaced people were killed in “intense fighting around the facility.”

“Heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and al-Amal, has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients, and displaced people trapped inside,” White said.

Al-Khair hospital shut down after patients, including women who had just undergone C-section surgeries, were evacuated in the middle of the night, he said.

The official Wafa news agency also reported Israeli bombings in the center of the strip, specifically in the Bureij refugee camp, where at least two people were killed in an alleged “deliberate attack on a group of crowded residents.”

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7 after an attack by the Islamist group that left some 1,200 dead.

Since then, the Israeli Army has maintained a strong offensive by air, land, and sea that has killed more than 25,700 Gazans, including over 10,000 children. EFE

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