An overnight Israeli air strike in northern Gaza has killed at least 19 people, medical officials and the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency say.
Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP news agency that several missiles hit a three-storey house near Kamal Adwan hospital in the town of Beit Lahia.
Dozens of people were said to have been living there and many were still trapped under the rubble, he added. Palestinian media reported that the dead included nine children.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it had carried out a strike targeting a Hamas “terrorist” in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan but questioned the reported death toll.
“According to an initial examination, the number of casualties resulting from the strike published in the media is inaccurate and does not align with the information held by the IDF,” it said. “The IDF is continuing to examine the incident.”
Israeli forces launched a major ground offensive in parts of northern Gaza on 6 October, saying it is stopping Hamas from regrouping there.
The UN said on Tuesday that Beit Lahia, as well as the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, were under a tightened Israeli siege and that virtually no humanitarian aid had been delivered for 66 days.
That had left between 65,000 and 75,000 people estimated to be still inside the towns without access to food, water, electricity or healthcare, it added.
Credit: bbc.com
