By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Dozens of Palestinians were killed or wounded in an Israeli attack on a multi-story residential building in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, on Sunday, doctors told Reuters.
There was no immediate figure for how many people died. The Palestinian Civil Emergency said around 70 people have lived on the property.
The media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government put the death toll at 72. The building housed members of at least six families, doctors and residents said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. He has often accused Hamas’s press office of exaggerating the death toll.
Video footage from the site of the attack obtained by Reuters showed locals removing bodies from a huge pile of rubble, and surrounding houses were also damaged, some severely.
The Israeli military sent tanks last month to Beit Lahiya and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, in what it said was a campaign to fight Hamas militants. who launched attacks and prevent them from regrouping.
He said he had killed hundreds of militants in those three areas, which residents said Israeli forces had cut off from Gaza City.
A statement from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, said on Sunday that fighters blew up an Israeli army vehicle during fighting in Beit Lahiya. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the claim.
Hours earlier, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip when a missile hit a house, medics said. Four other people died in the nearby Nuseirat camp, they added.
Qatar has told Hamas and Israel that it will suspend efforts to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal until they demonstrate “willingness and seriousness” to resume talks.
The two sides in conflict continue to exchange blame. Hamas wants a deal to end the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 43,800 people have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis that day and are still holding dozens of about 250 hostages they took to Gaza. , according to Israeli counts.