Israel’s military has again bombed residential buildings in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 19 Palestinians, as civilians in the besieged northern town searched for survivors in the aftermath of an earlier Israeli raid that killed nearly 100 people.
The latest Israeli bombing, late on Tuesday night, hit several homes belonging to the Al Louh family, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.
The attack came less than a day after Israel’s military bombed a five-storey building belonging to the Abu Nasr family in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 93 people and wounding dozens more. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at least 25 children were among the dead.
Israel’s military said it was “looking into the reports of the strike”, while its main ally, the United States, called the attack “horrifying”.
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said it was “appalled” by the bombing, describing it one of the deadliest single attacks in Gaza in nearly three months. The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) said the assault on the Abu Nasr family home was among seven “mass casualty incidents” in Gaza in the past week alone.
Israel’s escalating air and ground assault on Beit Lahiya comes as its siege of northern Gaza has entered its 26th day.
The Israeli military said it launched the offensive to stop Hamas fighters from regrouping in the north of the territory, despite saying earlier this year that it had wiped out the Palestinian group – which governs Gaza – in the area.
According to the the Palestinian Civil Defence, more than 100,000 people remain trapped in the north without food and water and dozens remain buried in the rubble of bombed homes, with rescue workers unable to reach them due to Israel’s ongoing siege and attacks.
Footage from the Israeli assault on the Abu Nasr family home early on Tuesday, obtained by Al Jazeera, showed a Palestinian man covered in dust trapped under concrete and steel bars as others tried to break apart walls using pick axes to free him. Outside the building, several bodies wrapped in blankets lay on the ground.
‘Martyrs all over the place’
Ismail Ouaida, a witness, said the Israeli attack came without warning.
“As you can see, there are martyrs all over the place,” he said, pointing to two dead bodies under the rubble. “[There are] bodies hanging over the walls.”
Another Palestinian woman, in footage verified by Al Jazeera, said she lost multiple members of her family.
“Both my sons with their entire families were killed. My unmarried daughter was also killed,” the woman said, weeping. “And my other daughter with her five children – all killed. What wrong did they do? What did those innocent people do to be slaughtered like this?”
Rabie al-Shandagly, a 30-year-old survivor, told the AFP news agency that most of the victims were women and children.
“The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise, I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble,” he said. “People are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care.”
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the main medical facility serving the people of north Gaza, dozens of wounded people arrived seeking treatment, but the hospital’s director said there were no staff to treat the patients as Israeli forces had arrested most of its workers in a raid last week.
“The Kamal Adwan Hospital and the entire vicinity is a war zone. The hospital is left with no resources; no medical supplies; no medical staff. This is because many of our specialised doctors and surgeons have been detained,” Dr Hussam Abu Safiya said.
He described chaotic scenes with patients and the injured “strewn all over” the hospital floor, and called for urgent international intervention.
US, UN express concern
In Washington, DC, a spokesman for the US State Department expressed concern.
“This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result,” Matthew Miller told reporters. “We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here.”
In Geneva, a spokesman for UN’s OHCHR called for a prompt, transparent and detailed investigation.
“It is imperative for Israel to allow emergency rescue services access to such sites in North Gaza. In some cases, rescue workers themselves have been attacked while trying to reach the injured,” Jeremy Laurence said.
The UN’s Middle East peace envoy also condemned the attack.
“This horrific strike is yet another in a deadly series of recent mass casualty incidents, alongside a massive displacement campaign, in the north of Gaza that raises serious concerns about violations of international humanitarian law,” Tor Wennesland said in a statement.
“I unequivocally condemn the widespread killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, and the endless displacement of the population in Gaza.”
Israel’s yearlong war has so far killed at least 43,061 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian officials.
