Almost 100 killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

By Nathan Morley

Close to 100 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded apartment complex in Gaza.

On Tuesday, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said almost 100 had been killed or were missing following an Israeli airstrike on the northern town of Beit Lahia.

Around 200 people were believed to be living in the four-story building that was hit.

Medics said a number of victims were still under the rubble, and ambulance and civil defense crews could not reach them.

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General has said Israel’s new law banning the operation of UNRWA, the main aid agency in Gaza, would have a devastating impact on the already dire humanitarian situation.

Israel accuses the UN relief agency, founded in 1948, of supporting the militant Islamist Hamas and of being infiltrated by it.

James Elder, a spokesman for UNICEF, said if UNRWA was unable to operate, “you would likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza.”

In a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Antonio Guterres said the legislation raised the matter of international law, and could effectively cripple UNRWA.

In Washington, the Department of State said that UNRWA played a unique role in Gaza. 

Meanwhile, UNRWA’s Communications Director Juliette Touma called the law a disaster. “UNRWA is the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza,” she said. “Who can do its job?”

In London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “gravely concerned” by this “legislation which risks making UNRWA’s essential work for the Palestinians impossible”. While France “strongly deplores” the Israeli vote, Germany has also “strongly criticized” the Knesset’s decisions.

Elsewhere, at least eight people were killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike targeting Sarafand, a coastal town in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.