Over 50 killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes, Hamas-run health ministry reports

Local medics and rescuers reported that more than 50 individuals died on Sunday as a result of Israeli air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip. They indicated that among the deceased were children, a cameraman employed by the Al Jazeera TV network, and personnel from the Civil Defence agency. The Israeli military stated that it targeted sites used by Hamas and the allied armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, these deaths brought the total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hamas to over 45,000. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but it had previously reported in October that 29,980 children, women, and elderly individuals were among the identified fatalities. The Israeli government frequently disputes these figures, claiming that nearly 20,000 “terrorists” have been killed, yet UN agencies generally accept them. The war commenced on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 people being taken hostage. Many of those killed on Sunday were in a UN-run school in the southern city of Khan Younis, which was being utilized as a shelter for displaced families. Disturbing footage depicted a bloody scene on the third floor of Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz School, with children’s bodies seemingly among those being removed. Manal Tafesh, whose brother and his children were among the deceased, told Reuters news agency outside a local mortuary: “People were safe, staying in their homes after they prayed the dinner prayer. They were sitting, sleeping, and staying put in their places.” Medics reported at least 13 fatalities, while a spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) mentioned hearing reports of around 20 casualties, many of whom were women and children. Louise Wateridge conveyed to the BBC from central Gaza, “It’s just doesn’t stop. It’s so relentless the pain and the suffering that we continue to have.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated it had “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command-and-control centre” embedded within the school. The IDF also accused Hamas and other armed groups of exploiting civilians and using civilian infrastructure as human shields. Medics reported several more deaths at another school-turned-shelter in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, which the UN stated has been under siege by Israeli forces for over two months. The UN indicated it was monitoring reports that more than 1,500 people were newly displaced after Israeli forces besieged and shelled the Khalil Aweida school. On Sunday, the IDF announced that its forces “conducted a targeted raid on a terrorist meeting point in the Beit Hanoun area.” It added: “In co-operation with the [Israeli Air Force], the troops struck dozens of terrorists from both the air and ground, and additional terrorists were apprehended.” Another strike impacted a Civil Defence building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Civil Defence, stated that the strike killed the directors of its Nuseirat and Sheikh Radwan centres along with two volunteers, one of whom he identified as Ahmad Baker al-Louh. He also noted that five other individuals were injured, three of them critically. He asserted: “The Israeli occupation has once again shown the world that there is no protection for humanitarian workers in Gaza and no adherence to international humanitarian laws,” adding that 94 Civil Defence workers had been killed since the start of the war. Ahmad al-Louh was a cameraman for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, which strongly condemned what it called Israel’s “targeted killing” of its journalist. The network stated that Louh had been covering a rescue operation by the Civil Defence following an earlier strike on Sunday and that this incident occurred “just days after the targeting of his house.” A statement from the network declared: “The network calls on all human rights and media organisations to condemn the Israeli occupation’s systematic killing of journalists in cold blood, the evasion of responsibilities under international humanitarian law, and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.” The IDF claimed the Civil Defence building was used by “terrorists to plan and carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops.” It further alleged, without providing any evidence: “Among the terrorists eliminated in the strike was the Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmad Bakr al-Louh, who previously served as a platoon commander in the Islamic Jihad’s Central Camps Brigade.” Al Jazeera did not comment on the Israeli allegation, but Mahmoud, Louh’s cousin, informed the Associated Press: “We were stunned by the Israeli occupation statement.” He further added: “These claims are lies and misleading to cover up this crime.” The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began. 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