At least 93 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a five-storey building in Gaza’s Beit Lahia [Photo by AFP via Getty Images]
At least 109 people have been killed and more than 40 missing following an Israeli strike on a residential building in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Tuesday morning, according medical sources.
Al-Jazeera English reported that out of 115 people killed by Israel’s dawn bombardment of the Gaza Strip, 109 were from a strike in Beit Lahia. Gaza’s government media office had previously put the toll at 93.
The attack targeted a five-story residential building that housed around 150 displaced people, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The wounded have started to arrive at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which itself has been subject to Israeli attacks leading to the destruction of parts of the medical facility and the detention of staff.
Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals in Gaza, said the Israeli raids on Kamal Adwan Hospital meant there were only two pediatric doctors and no surgeons, likely to impact greatly on medical care for those injured in air strikes.
Al-Hams called on Palestinians in northern Gaza with medical knowledge to come to the hospital to save those wounded due to the mounting casualties and shortage of staff.
At least 43,020 Palestinians have been killed and a further 101,110 wounded since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Tuesday’s attack is the latest in a series of deadly Israeli military assaults in northern Gaza, as it looks to displace those civilians remaining in Beit Lahia and Jabalia.
On Monday night, the Israeli Knesset voted to ban UNRWA in Israel within 90 days, likely to exacerbate the already harrowing humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The ban includes the agency’s activities in occupied East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.
Aid agencies, UN officials, and Western governments, including the US, have warned that any such ban would cause a collapse in the aid distribution system in Gaza. Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain have since condemned the ban.
Israel’s actions in Gaza come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is open to a short truce that will give space to restart negotiations.
According to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the proposal would see the implementation of a two-day truce for the freeing of four Israeli captives and a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Around 101 Israeli captives remain held in Gaza, according to Haaretz, including 35 who are believed to be dead.
Negotiations would then start within 10 days of the truce. The negotiations would be aimed at bringing about a unilateral ceasefire and delivery of aid, Sisi said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated on 29 October, 16:10 GMT, to reflect a rise in the death toll.
