Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 33 amid Hamas truce hopes

The Israeli military continued its attacks across the Gaza Strip as a ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon, including a massacre at a school used as a refuge for displaced people in Gaza City.

In the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry reported that 33 people were killed across the war-ravaged territory.

Eight people were killed following an Israel strike at al-Tabin School on Tuesday night, according to local medical sources, including two sons of former Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum.

Al Jazeera reported that many of the injured were transported to al-Ahli Arab Hospital in critical condition. 

Al-Tabin School was previously targeted in an attack on 10 August in one of the most harrowing massacres since Israel began its assault on the besieged enclave in October 2023, killing over 100 displaced Palestinians with the victims’ bodies left dismembered, charred, and, in many cases, unrecognisable to their loved ones. 

In Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood, another strike killed four people, while three more were killed in Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have intensified a siege and airstrikes in a suspected bid to kill, starve, and expel the remaining inhabitants.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli troops conducted a ground operation early Wednesday at a school-turned-evacuation centre in Beit Lahiya, detaining, blindfolding and handcuffing men at the refuge before transferring them to unknown locations for interrogation.  

Women and children were forced to leave the school and were directed to Salah al-Din Street towards central Gaza.  

A separate air strike on Tuesday hit the Al-Hurreya School in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, killing at least 13 displaced Palestinians and injuring dozens more.  

Later the same day, an Israeli attack on a house in Zeitoun killed seven people, while another strike in Rafah claimed one life.  

Despite the ongoing Israeli military offensive, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon late Tuesday has renewed hope for a similar deal between Hamas and Israel.  

Efforts to negotiate a long-term ceasefire in Gaza have faltered, with Israel continually thwarting proposals with the only pause in fighting during a week-long truce in late November 2023. 

Hamas announced on Wednesday its readiness for a ceasefire, with senior officials stating they have communicated this to mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.  

However, they accused Israel of obstructing the process and say they won’t surrender. 

US President Joe Biden reiterated that his administration was pushing for a Gaza ceasefire and noted the possibility of a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal. 

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reporting on Wednesday that residents are resorting to “scavenging through weeks-old waste for scraps of food” as winter sets in.

Human rights organisations have accused Israel of deliberately blocking humanitarian aid and using starvation as a weapon of war, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Tuesday that displaced families face severe shortages, overcrowding, and deteriorating hygiene. 

“Acute malnutrition cases in children are on the rise over the past 5 months,” OCHA added. 

The 13-month Israeli campaign has killed 44,282 Palestinians and wounded 104,880 wounded, to Gaza’s health ministry.

The ongoing conflict has left nearly the entire population of Gaza displaced and utterly devastated the Palestinian enclave.