Hamas was due to give its own answer later Tuesday to the latest ceasefire proposal, already accepted by Israel.
In Gaza City, 15 people were killed and another 25 wounded, many critically burned, in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter. The injured were transported to Al-Shifa Hospital, where the facility’s director, Dr. Mohammad Abu Silmiya, said the aftermath was horrific. Emergency workers reported seeing charred bodies, including those of children, at the scene.
Another 12 people were killed in two other separate attacks in Gaza City, the hospital director said.
And in contrast to the tragedy at the school, the Israeli military, when asked who it had been targeting with its explosives, said it was assassinating a “key Hamas terrorist” who was operating out of a command and control center in the city. The military said it had taken “multiple measures” to minimize civilian harm, including deploying precision weapons and surveillance.
Israeli forces earlier in the day said they’d conducted about 150 strikes across Gaza, hitting what they said was terror infrastructure, including tunnels, weapons sites, and sniper positions.
Civilian Death Toll Mounts During Strikes on Aid Zones
In southern Gaza, Nasser Hospital said it had received 35 bodies on Thursday morning. They included 15 people killed by suspected snipers as they waited for aid near distribution centers in Khan Younis, and 20 who were killed in attacks on local encampments. The victims were near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution centers in the Al-Tahliya neighborhood when the jet fired.
“They claim the American (GHF) is safe, is that the definition of safety? Awad Barbach, who had come to the funeral of one of the victims.
Chaos also broke out during aid distributions, including one in central Gaza near the Netzarim Corridor which led to the death of a further 25 people. Witnesses spoke of heavy gunfire and civilian panic during a scramble for food.
“It was an ambush, it was a trap,” said Ahmed Khella, a civilian who was caught in the episode. “People were stabbing each other for the food.”……and then there was more than an hour of Israeli gunfire. We’re not Hamas or Fatah — I’m just a civilian who wants to eat.”
Late Thursday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported another strike in the town of Khan Younis in which seven people were killed and 17 wounded while awaiting aid. The wounded were taken to Al Amal hospital.
Confusion plagued September's failed peace talks, and now as conditions on the ground worsen and with civilians bearing the brunt of the fighting, the world's gaze is fixed on the fragile ceasefire discussions and on the rising body count.
