Gaza under attack from land, air and sea, scores dead in Israeli airstrikes

Dozens of people escaping to the south of the Gaza Strip on the orders of the Israeli army also came under heavy fire

Muslim Network TV Desk with inputs form agencies

GAZA, Palestine – The besieged Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip is under constant Israeli attacks from land, air and sea.

On Friday evening, Israeli fighter jets bombed the entrance to the largest hospital in Gaza. According to initial reports, several people were killed and wounded in the attack.

Al-Shifa is home to thousands of displaced and wounded Palestinians and has been repeatedly threatened by the Israeli military to evacuate the facility or be bombed.

According to media reports, a medical transport carrying injured people towards the Egyptian border was attacked. Images broadcast by Al Jazeera Arabic showed bodies of Palestinians strewn along a major road in the Gaza Strip after being killed by Israeli fire as they fled north to south.

The Al-Rasheed road runs along the coast of the Gaza Strip from north to south. Dozens of people fleeing south along the coastal road on the orders of the Israeli army were targeted with heavy gunfire and shells by Israeli helicopter gunships, according to local media.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reports that 23 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on its shelters in Gaza in the last 24 hours.

On Friday, a house in the al-Nasser neighborhood near the al-Shifa hospital was attacked and more than 20 people were injured in airstrikes near the al-Quds hospital in Tal al-Hawa.

At least 10 Palestinians were killed this morning in an Israeli attack on cemetery workers in Beit Lahia cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip, WAFA reported. According to the Palestinian news agency, Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of the city of al-Qarara in the southern province of Khan Younis and east of al-Wusta in the central region.

The Israeli army stated that it was slowly moving towards Gaza City. The outskirts of the city have turned into a war zone where Hamas fighters are battling the advancing Israeli army.

Since the escalation of the ground fighting, 24 Israeli soldiers have already been killed.

At least 260 Israeli soldiers have been wounded, according to Israeli Army Radio. The Israeli army claims to have destroyed several tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The death toll in Gaza has risen to 9,227, including 3,826 children and 2,405 women, and tens of thousands have been wounded.

In Israel, more than 1,400 people have been killed. The Israeli military spokesman stated that 241 people were detained in Gaza and 338 Israeli soldiers were killed. Tensions also escalated in East Jerusalem, where access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque was restricted.

In the West Bank, Israeli forces have killed at least 10 Palestinians since Thursday evening.

At least 3,000 Palestinian laborers working in Israel, who have been detained there since October 7, were been allowed to return to Gaza. They were believed to have disappeared amid a campaign of mass arrests.

International reaction U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Israel to do everything in its power to protect civilians affected by the fighting in Gaza and provide them with humanitarian aid, while stressing the country’s right to self-defense.

“We firmly believe that Israel has not only the right but also the duty to defend itself and to ensure that October 7 does not happen again,” said Blinken. “It’s how Israel does this that matters, and it’s very important that when it comes to protecting civilians caught in the crossfire of Hamas, everything is done to protect them and bring help to those who so desperately need it.”

This is Blinken’s third trip to Israel since the war began, and he is also planning a visit to Amman, Jordan. He is following President Joe Biden’s suggestion of a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. The Colombian President condemned the use of white phosphorus bombs by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Gustavo Petro shared video footage on X showing Israel using a white phosphorus bomb in the Gaza Strip, saying: “The bomb you see in the video is made of white phosphorus. It sticks to the skin, penetrates the bones and kills in excruciating pain. The Israeli state dropped it.”

Petro pointed out that the use of white phosphorus bombs is a war crime under international law: “There are children playing down there. The area where the bomb was dropped belongs to the UN.” “International law is not arbitrary and binds all nations worldwide. War criminals, regardless of their religion, ideology or nationality, should be prosecuted and imprisoned,” he said.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar described Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as “an act of revenge”, making it one of the harshest criticisms of Israel by a head of government of an EU member state.

The United Arab Emirates warned of the real danger of a regional spillover of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, adding that it was working “tirelessly” to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire.

“As we continue to work to end this war, we cannot ignore the broader context and the need to lower the regional temperature, which is approaching boiling point,” Noura al Kaabi, Minister of state for Foreign Affairs, told a political conference in the capital Abu Dhabi.

“The risk of regional spillover and further escalation is real, as is the risk of extremist groups using the situation to spread ideologies that keep us trapped in a cycle of violence”