Israel kept up deadly attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing dozens of people, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and pleas from desperate relatives to bring home the remaining captives being held in the enclave by Hamas.
At least 90 people, including women and children, were killed and more than 100 injured in Israeli attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The enclave’s Ministry of Health said Sunday’s strikes hit a residential block belonging to the al-Barsh and Alwan families, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Medics in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah said at least 12 Palestinians had been killed and dozens wounded, while in Rafah in the south, an Israeli air attack on a house killed at least four people.
More than 54 bodies arrived at al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli warplanes targeted the neighbourhoods of Sabra, Sheikh Radwan, and Remal in Gaza City.
Close to 19,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza since October 7, according to the Health Ministry.
The bombardment has left much of Gaza in ruins. The United Nations estimates that 1.9 million Palestinians – or about 85 percent of the population – have been displaced by the war, and warns of a “breakdown of civil order”.
“I would not be surprised if people start dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease, weak immunity,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli government has come under growing pressure, including from its top ally the United States, but also from families of captives, to either slow, suspend or end the military campaign.