Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Dozens, Including Children

Dozens of Palestinians, mostly children, have been killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis in Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The attack, which took place on Saturday morning, marked a significant escalation of airstrikes on southern Gaza by Israel. The Israeli military has been relentlessly bombing northern Gaza for the past 42 days, urging residents to flee to the south.

Prior to the attack on Khan Younis, Israeli authorities issued warnings to Palestinians in the southern city, urging them to relocate west, signaling an imminent attack. With the conflict entering its 43rd day, the death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 12,000 Palestinians, with the majority of the casualties being women and children.

The dire situation in Gaza has been further exacerbated by a lack of electricity. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, forty patients at al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza have died since November 11 due to the power outage. In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Munir al-Barsh, the general manager for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, revealed that Israeli forces had removed over 100 bodies from al-Shifa Hospital. Al-Barsh added that 15 bodies were recovered from a mass grave, bringing the total number of bodies taken from the hospital to around 130.

The remaining functioning hospitals in Gaza are on the verge of collapse, as they struggle to cope with the influx of wounded and dead. In a separate incident, at least five Palestinians were killed and several others were injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a building at a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. According to witnesses, the strike appeared to have been carried out by a drone, although there was no immediate confirmation.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that its medics were attending to five serious injuries resulting from the attack, all of whom were men between the ages of 19 and 25. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that four of those killed were affiliated with al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah faction.

In Tubas, another city in the northeastern West Bank, clashes broke out after Israeli forces stormed the area in large numbers. An 18-year-old Palestinian named Omar al-Shahrouri was killed, and two others were injured during the confrontation. Palestinian medics reported that three young men sustained gunshot injuries, with one of them succumbing to his wounds upon arrival at the hospital.

Throughout the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces have intensified raids on Palestinian towns and villages, as well as conducted a widespread campaign of arrests. These actions come in response to the solidarity protests held by Palestinians in support of their compatriots in the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the Gaza war in early October, at least 186 Palestinians, including 51 children, have been killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank, with an additional eight killed by extremist Jewish settlers, according to figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on the coastal enclave have targeted hospitals, residences, and houses of worship since the Palestinian resistance movements launched their surprise attack, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the Israeli regime on October 7.