Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 30, with death toll expected to rise | Gaza
Israel has carried out some of its deadliest air strikes on Gaza in months; killed at least 30 Palestinians, some of whom were sheltering in tent cities for displaced people.
Despite a nominal ceasefire, a gunman struck a police station in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in western Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 officers and detainees, civil defense said. Civil defense stated that the death toll may increase as emergency response teams search for bodies.
Another attack struck an apartment in Gaza City, killing three children and two women; Seven more people died when Israel bombed tents in Khan Younis, south of Gaza.
“We found my three little nephews on the street. They say ‘ceasefire’ or something. What did those children do? What did we do?” Samer al-Atbas, the uncle of three children killed in Gaza, told Reuters:
The Israeli military said the attacks were carried out in response to the incident on Friday when eight armed men emerged from a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza. The area is still under Israeli military control under the October ceasefire.
The strikes took place a day before the border crossing was expected to open in Gaza’s southernmost city; It’s a reminder that even with a ceasefire agreement a few steps away, the death toll is still rising.
All border crossings in the region have been closed since the start of the war, and Palestinians view the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as a lifeline for tens of thousands of people needing treatment outside the region, as much of its medical infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli bombardment.
Israel aims to allow only 150 Palestinians to enter Gaza through Rafah every day, according to Reuters. Israel wants to ensure that more Palestinians leave Gaza than enter it.
Shifa hospital stated that a mother, three children and a relative died in Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, while Nasser hospital in Khan Younis reported that an attack in a tent camp caused a fire and seven people died, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren.
The Gaza health ministry noted that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began on October 10.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the attacks.
Despite Israel’s frequent killings of Palestinians in violation of the October ceasefire, the agreement has entered an important second phase. Some of the thorniest issues are involved in the second phase, which requires Hamas to disarm and transfer power to the Peace Board organization, which is staffed by President Donald Trump’s appointees and his own appointees.
A recent presentation in Davos by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is also involved in Trump’s Gaza project, showed the Trump administration’s plan to “develop Gaza,” complete with sleek skyscrapers and cornices overlooking the Mediterranean.
Much of Gaza has been destroyed and basic infrastructure left unusable as a result of Israeli bombardment that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in the past two years. Last year, the UN commission of inquiry found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
