Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults in southern Gaza, well being officers mentioned, because the UN rights chief warned that the “darkest second” of Israel’s assault on Gaza was unfolding within the north of the besieged territory.
Girls and youngsters had been amongst a minimum of 38 individuals killed in Israeli air assaults that hit a number of homes in Khan Younis on Friday, well being authorities mentioned.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, mentioned pictures exhibiting the scene of the assault in Khan Younis “are disturbing, with many our bodies mendacity on the bottom in Nasser Hospital whereas dad and mom and kin bid farewell to the victims who’ve been transferred for burial.”
Ahmed Sobh recounted how his cousin had screamed, “Assist me, assist me”.
“We ran and located her youngsters, a boy and a lady, martyred. Her son was mendacity underneath the concrete column, it took us 1.5 hours to get him out,” he advised the Reuters information company.
Ahmed al-Farra described digging via rubble to rescue kin together with his mom, including he had misplaced 15 members of his prolonged household throughout the air strikes.
“As I used to be making an attempt to dig [my mother] out I checked out this wall and noticed a tank aiming at me. I used to be considering, ‘Shall I dig or shall I watch the tank,’ what shall I do? I dug her out stuffed with worry. Everybody was doing the identical, digging in worry,” he mentioned.
Israeli military strikes throughout the Gaza Strip have killed a minimum of 72 individuals since Thursday evening, well being officers mentioned.
The newest assaults embody strikes on three homes in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, the place 25 individuals had been killed and dozens extra had been wounded, medics mentioned.
In a while Friday, an Israeli air strike killed 9 individuals within the Shati refugee camp in Gaza Metropolis.
Greater than 42,000 individuals have been killed since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023, in keeping with Palestinian well being officers.
As Israel continued its bombardment throughout the territory, the UN rights chief warned that its offensive in northern Gaza might embody “atrocity crimes”.
Israeli forces launched a brand new offensive in northern Gaza greater than two weeks in the past. Some 400,000 persons are trapped within the space – primarily in Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, and Beit Lahiya.
Gaza’s Authorities Media Workplace mentioned a minimum of 770 Palestinians have been killed and 1,000 others wounded within the assault, which entered its twenty first day on Friday. Israeli forces have additionally besieged the Kamal Adwan Hospital, a day after tanks shelled the power.
Volker Turk, the UN excessive commissioner for human rights, warned on Friday that Israel’s actions in northern Gaza “danger emptying the world of all Palestinians” and that “we face what might quantity to atrocity crimes.”
Turk decried “nonstop” bombing in northern Gaza and mentioned that “the Israeli navy has ordered a whole bunch of 1000’s to maneuver, with no ensures of return. However there isn’t any secure solution to go away.”
In a press release, he mentioned that there have been “greater than 150,000 persons are reportedly lifeless, wounded or lacking in Gaza” for the reason that conflict there started simply greater than a yr in the past.
“Unimaginably, the state of affairs is getting worse by the day,” he mentioned.
“My gravest worry is, given the depth, breadth, scale and blatant nature of the Israeli operation at present underneath means in North Gaza, that quantity will rise dramatically.”
Turk known as on the world’s leaders to behave, stressing that every one states are obligated underneath the Geneva Conventions to make sure respect for worldwide humanitarian regulation.
His assertion burdened the urgency of the state of affairs, warning that “as we speak the darkest second of the Gaza battle is unfolding within the north of the Strip, the place the Israeli navy is successfully subjecting a whole inhabitants to bombing, siege and danger of hunger”.
The UN rights chief cautioned that there was “extraordinarily restricted entry to this a part of Gaza, [and] subsequent to no help has reached the world in weeks, with illegal restrictions remaining”.
“Many at the moment are dealing with hunger.”
The warning comes as the US renewed its push for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
A Hamas official confirmed to Reuters on Friday {that a} delegation led by the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officers.
The official mentioned Hamas was decided any settlement should finish the offensive in Gaza, get Israeli forces out of the enclave and obtain a prisoners-for-hostages swap deal.
US and Israeli negotiators will collect in Doha within the coming days to attempt to restart talks, officers mentioned on Thursday.
Qatar and Egypt have acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas in months of talks that broke down in August with out an settlement.
