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New Delhi: The Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis claimed the lives of at least 22 Palestinians as fighting persisted in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Thursday. Rescue teams pulled over 100 people from under the rubble of a family house and its surroundings in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Rescue operation footage depicted rescuers working tirelessly in the rubble of the destroyed buildings to save a Gazan boy after his home was struck by an Israeli airstrike.
The UN stated that about 1,600 people, including 900 children, are reportedly missing and could be trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza. The report stated that over the past 24 hours, 481 people, including 209 children, lost their lives.
Since the start of hostilities, Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing states that approximately 45 percent of housing units in the Gaza Strip have suffered destruction (16,441), been rendered uninhabitable (11,340), or incurred moderate/light damage (150,000).
Israel had told civilians in the northern Gaza Strip on October 12 to move to the south of the enclave, saying it would be safer there as its military attacked Hamas.
However, Israel has continued to hit sites in southern Gaza, spreading fear among the evacuees that they are just as vulnerable there as they were in their homes in the north.
The bombardment of the south reportedly intensified on October 25 with a strike bringing down several apartment buildings in Khan Younis.
Israel has claimed that the Hamas operatives killed 1,400 people in their surprise cross-border attack on October 7, while Gaza’s health ministry has said that more than 7,000 Palestinians have died in air strikes since then.
Nowhere is safe in Gaza
As Israel continued its bombardment, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynne Hastings, said that “nowhere is safe in Gaza”. In a statement, she said that despite the Israeli military issuing warnings to people in Gaza City to leave, “advance warnings make no difference”.
“When bombings target the evacuation routes, when hostilities ensnare people both in the north and the south, when the necessities for survival are scarce, and when there are no guarantees of return, individuals face nothing but impossible choices.” Nowhere is safe in Gaza,” she said.
Approximately 1.4 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced, with around 641,000 seeking shelter in 150 emergency shelters designated by the UN.
Humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza
The Rafah crossing with Egypt opened for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday, allowing the entry of 12 trucks carrying water, food, and medical supplies. The total number of trucks with humanitarian aid that entered Gaza since October 21 have now increased to 74.
The entry of fuel, however, remains banned by the Israeli authorities
