Israeli air strike wipes out 25 family members in northern Gaza
Palestinian women mourn relatives killed in an Israeli strike during their funeral at the al-Awda Hospital at the Nuseirat refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip on 7 December 2024
Lubna Masarwa reports in Middle East Eye on 10 December 2024:
An Israeli air strike targeting a residential building in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, on Monday evening wiped out two entire families from the Al-Kahlout household, comprising 25 individuals.
This strike and others early on Tuesday killed at least 34 Palestinians and left many others wounded, Gaza health authorities said.
Mahmoud Basal, the Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman, told Middle East Eye that the attack in Beit Hanoun occurred around 8pm on Monday. “The Israeli occupation forces targeted a multi-storey house in Beit Hanoun, this house belongs to the Kahlout family,” said Basal. “So far 16 people have been identified and they were taken from under the rubble. The rest remain under the rubble,” said Basal adding that “until now civilians are trying to take them out. We’re talking about at least five children and five women”.
The Civil Defence reported that most of the victims were from the same family. Images shared online, which Reuters could not independently verify, depicted the bodies being laid to rest in a single mass grave in the town.
“Northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and Beit Hanoun, is experiencing unprecedented devastation due to ongoing Israeli air strikes, which have left hundreds dead and countless others trapped under rubble,” said Basal. “With the communications blackout, little information is making its way out of these areas, and the full extent of the destruction remains largely unknown,” he added.
Many incidents are going unreported warned Basal, especially in the northern part of Gaza, where messaging, internet, and imaging equipment are scarce.
“The Kahlout family is no stranger to these massacres. The area has already witnessed numerous attacks, with the loss of thousands of lives.
“According to reports, more than 3,700 people have died, with many buried under rubble or left on the streets. Some are still missing, and the fate of many others is unknown,” reported Basal.
“The ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, including the health system, are part of a broader Israeli strategy to exhaust the remaining services in Gaza.
“The situation has become dire, with food and medical supplies scarce and the population facing systematic displacement and starvation,” Basal told MEE.
“Apart from the massacres is the ongoing systematic starvation and displacement of the population in a systematic manner by the Israeli occupation. And because of this, we are facing a clearly and obvious massacre that the occupation carried out on the Kahlout family,” Basal added.
Israeli strikes on the rest of Gaza
Another air strike targeted a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven people and wounding several others, according to medics and emergency responders. Meanwhile, two more people were killed in an air strike on Rafah in the south of the enclave.