More than 70 people have been killed in their homes after Israel conducted air raids on Gaza’s Khan Younis, Rafah and Deir el-Balah, according to the besieged Palestinian enclave’s Ministry of Health.
The deaths came overnight on Tuesday, about 10 days after Israel started its retaliation against the deadly attacks on southern Israel by Hamas, the armed group that rules Gaza.
The violence has killed at least 1,400 people in Israel and more than 2,800 in Gaza since October 7.
Many of those killed in the latest Israeli air raids were those evacuated from Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip as ordered by Israel, Al Jazeera’s Safwat Kahlout reported from Gaza.
“Ambulances are transporting the injured to already overcrowded hospitals, and we are told that many people are still trapped in the rubble of the targeted buildings, awaiting rescue,” he added.
‘Targeting children’
Standing in front of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, an employee of the Emergency Medical Services, who held the body of an infant in his arms, told Al Jazeera: “Israel is targeting children.”
Another person told Al Jazeera that his whole neighbourhood was in ruins.
“We were all asleep and woke up [in the early morning before dawn] to pray. Immediately afterwards, our house with 40 people inside, old and young, was hit,” he said.
“Suddenly the entire neighbourhood was in ruins. The scenes I witnessed are indescribable, with bodies all around me,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israel is preparing for a ground offensive.
Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from Israel’s southern city of Sderot, said the troops continued to move towards the barrier fence with Gaza.
“We have seen armoured vehicles, tanks and lots of soldiers. They’re also using vessels from the sea with precision-guided munitions,” she said.
“However, right now, the big question is when this [ground invasion] operation will take place.”
