People mourn as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids in Khan Younis, Gaza. [Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images on Al-Jazeera website]
NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of Gaza residents bogged down by the blockade on humanitarian aid, at least 53 people are feared dead and dozens injured as Israeli fighter jets struck two refugee camps in Gaza Strip since November 5 late evening.
Al-Jazeera television channel has reported that the attacks on Sunday came as Israel said that it would press on with its offensive against Hamas, despite increased appeals for a ceasefire or a “humanitarian pause” from the international community and United Nations relief agencies.
The Israeli air raids struck Maghazi refugee camp in Central Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least 40 people and wounding 34 others, Al-Jazeera report quoting Ministry of Health officials said.
Al-Jazeera reported that Arafat Abu Mashaia, who lives in the camp, said the air raids flattened several multistorey residential buildings where people forced out of other parts of Gaza were sheltering.
“It was a true massacre,” he said, standing on the wreckage. “All here are peaceful people. I challenge anyone who says there were resistance [fighters] here.”
The camp, a built-up residential area, is located in the evacuation zone where Israel’s military had urged Palestinian civilians to seek refuge as it focused its military offensive on the north.
Another air attack hit a house near a school at the Bureji refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday, and staff at al-Aqsa Hospital said at least 13 people were killed. The camp is home to an estimated 46,000 people and was struck on Thursday as well.
At least 9500 people have been killed and thousands injured since the war and air strike by Israeli fighter jets started on October 7, 2023 on Gaza Strip after Hamas attack on some of the Israeli areas.
