A doctor at theIndonesian hospitalin the northern city ofBeit LahiainGaza, who requested anonymity, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that 30 dead and dozens of injured, mostly children and women, had arrived at the hospital.
Mohammed Saleh, acting director ofal-Awda hospitalinJabalia, told AFP that the hospital had received five dead and “more than 75 injured” as a result of the bombardment.
“The Israeli occupation bombed the house next to mine, hitting it directly while its residents were inside,”Yousef al-Sultan,40, from theal-Salatinarea, west of Beit Lahia, told AFP, reporting “airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire from quadcopter drones”.
“There is a massive wave of displacement among civilians. Fear and panic grip us in the middle of the night,” he said.
Gaza’s civil defence agencysaid on Friday that 50 people had been killed inIsraelistrikes on thePalestinianterritory since midnight.
“The number of martyrs killed in Israeli shelling targeting civilian homes in the northernGazaStrip between midnight and early this morning has risen to 50 … Our teams are still working in those areas,” civil defence officialMohammed al-Mughayyirtold Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Israelistrikes killed at least 20 people inGazaon Friday morning. An Associated Press (AP) journalist counted the bodies at theIndonesian hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble.The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come asUSpresidentDonald Trumpfinishes his visit toGulf statesbut not Israel.An Israeli blockade of Gaza is now in its third month. On Thursday,Trumpsaid he wanted the US to “make” the devastated territory “into a freedom zone”.
Trump’s statement recalled theplan he put forward in Februaryfor the US to take control of Gaza to reconstruct it as a luxury leisure and business hub. The scheme implied the possible permanent displacement of many or all of the territory’s 2.3 million people and triggered global outrage.
The most recent strikes lasted hours into Friday morning sending people fleeing from theJabaliya refugee campand the town ofBeit Lahiyaand followeddays of similar attacks that killed more than 130 people, according toGaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahuvowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war in theGaza Stripto pursue his aim of destroying theHamasmilitant group.
In comments released by Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from enteringGaza“with great strength to complete the mission … It means destroying Hamas”. It was unclear if Friday’s bombardment was the start of the operation.
In other developments:
Israel’s military killed five Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, hours after a pregnant woman died in a shooting. Islamic Jihad said five of its members had been killed while clashing with Israeli forces who surrounded their house in the town of Tammun. It was unclear whether they had any link to the shooting.
Israeli settlers meanwhile attacked Palestinians and blocked roads in the occupied West Bank, while WhatsApp groups for Israeli settlers in the West Bank were rife with calls for vengeance, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for “nests of terror” to be flattened.
Trumpannounced dealstotalling more than $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, including a $14.5bn commitment among Boeing, GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways. The White House said on Thursday thatBoeingand GE had received a commitment from Etihad Airways to invest $14.5bn to buy 28 US-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines.
Trump has said that the US’s air campaign against the Houthi rebels was “very successful, but maybe tomorrow, an attack will be made, in which case we go back on the offensive”.He made the comments on a visit to al-Udeid airbase in Doha, Qatar. Prior to that visit, the president attended a business forum in Qatar.
Trump said on Thursday that the US was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.“We’re in very serious negotiations withIranfor long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by AFP.
Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining mediation efforts for a hostage release and ceasefire deal by carrying out military operations in Gaza.“War criminal Netanyahu undermines mediation efforts through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives,” Hamas said in a statement referring to hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
“Israel’s blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) interim executive director Federico Borello said in a statement on Thursday.HRW said: “The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide.”