Israeli strikes have killed 500 in 8 days, Gaza medics say
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 50 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics told Reuters, as Israel continued its offensive despite growing international pressure to halt military operations and allow unhindered aid access into the territory.
The strikes hit multiple locations across Gaza. Medics reported that two homes were struck, killing women and children among the 18 dead. A school housing displaced families was also bombed. The Israeli military had on Monday instructed residents in Khan Younis, a southern city in Gaza, to evacuate toward the coast in anticipation of what it described as an 'unprecedented attack.'
Reuters footage from Gaza City showed residents sifting through rubble at a school in the Daraj neighborhood where they had been sheltering. Scattered belongings, including charred clothing and a red teddy bear, were visible among the debris.
Gazan medics say Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days as the military campaign has escalated and 300 since Sunday.
Gaza's health authorities report that the ground and air offensive has devastated the coastal enclave, displacing nearly all of its 2.3 million residents and killing more than 53,000 people.
The military campaign began after Hamas-led militants launched an attack on Israeli communities near Gaza's border in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The war has strained Israel's relationships with its international allies, including the United States, where support appears to be wavering.
Since Israel imposed a blockade on aid and supplies on March 2, Gaza has also faced an extreme risk of famine, according to a hunger monitoring group backed by the United Nations.
On Monday, Israel permitted nine aid trucks to enter Gaza. The following day, the United Nations said Israel had authorised around 100 aid trucks to pass through.
The UN has maintained that Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. Throughout the conflict, hundreds of trucks have waited weeks, even months, at Gaza's border for clearance.
'There is little food left,' said Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on Tuesday.
She described a contrast between empty warehouses in Gaza and well-stocked facilities just across the border. Speaking from Amman, Jordan, Wateridge said, 'There's enough medical care in the warehouse I'm in right now to keep all nine health centres and 38 medical points in Gaza functioning.' She added, 'There's enough food piled up to feed 200,000 people for a month, hygiene kits for 200,000 families, and learning supplies for 375,000 children.'
'The situation is absurd,' she said. 'It's appalling, and to be quite frank, it's unforgivable. All of these supplies that are around me are literally three hours away from the Gaza Strip. They could be there this afternoon.'
Leaders from Britain, France, and Canada warned on Monday that they may take 'concrete actions' against Israel if military operations do not cease and aid access is not improved.
Speaking in the UK Parliament, Labour leader Keir Starmer told MPs that the suffering in Gaza is 'utterly intolerable' and that he was 'horrified by the escalation from Israel.' He added, 'The recent announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza is totally and utterly inadequate. So we must coordinate our response, because this war has gone on for far too long. We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve.' Starmer said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would soon announce further UK actions.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French radio on Tuesday that France and other countries were considering reviewing their long-standing association agreement with Israel. 'Aid must be immediate, massive and without any hindrance,' he said.
France's relationship with Israel has deteriorated, with Paris now suggesting it could recognise a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a staunch opponent of Palestinian statehood, condemned such moves.
In response to the joint warning from the UK, France, and Canada, Israel accused the nations of being on the 'wrong side of history.'
When Hamas praised the joint statement as 'a step in the right direction,' Israel's official X account quickly responded:
'When you're praised by Hamas — a jihadist terrorist organisation that murders children and rapes women — you're on the wrong side of history. What a disgrace.'
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, said the bloc's foreign ministers would consider whether to suspend the EU's association agreement with Israel. 'The Dutch foreign minister has put forward a proposal to do the review of Article 2 of our association agreement with Israel and we will discuss this,' she said in Brussels.
Netanyahu defended his government's actions, describing the conflict as a 'war of civilisation over barbarism' and vowing to 'continue to defend itself by just means until total victory.' He reiterated that Israel aimed to take control of all of Gaza.
But criticism from within Israel has also grown. Yair Golan, former deputy chief of staff of Israel's military and now leader of the centre-left Democrats party, told local Kan Radio, 'A sane country does not engage in combat against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not pursue goals of population expulsion.'
Prime Minister Netanyahu slammed Golan's comments, accusing him of 'echoing the most contemptible antisemitic blood libels' against the state and the military.
The military also released a statement asserting that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir 'condemns any statement casting doubt on the values of the military and the morality of its soldiers.'
Israel's leadership insists that only force will free the hostages and dismantle Hamas. Hamas has said it would release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Israel has continued airstrikes in Lebanon. Earlier today, the Lebanese health ministry reported that an Israeli drone strike injured nine people in the southern Tyre district. Three victims, including two children, are in critical condition.
Despite a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah that allows only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, Israel has retained its forces in five areas it deems strategic. Lebanon has urged the international community to pressure Israel to withdraw and end the strikes.
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