Dozens killed in 'horrifying' strike on Gaza residential building; US increases pressure on Israel ahead of aid deadline

Israel was not addressing the “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, said the US envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday as a deadline imposed by Washington loomed for Israel to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.

Israel passed a law on Monday banning the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa from operating in the country, legislation that could impact its work in war-torn Gaza.

Israeli strike kills dozens in north Gaza residential block

At least 93 Palestinians were killed or missing and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday, said the Gaza health ministry. The US called the incident “horrifying”.

Medics said at least 20 children were among the dead.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them,” said the territory’s health ministry.

Later on Tuesday, Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Gaza government media office, put the number of fatalities at 93.

There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Israel’s main ally, the US, said it was concerned by the high casualty toll, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calling it a “horrifying incident with a horrifying result”.

Washington contacted Israeli officials and “made clear we want to know exactly what happened, how you could have a result that produces, according to reports, dozens of children dead, and we don’t yet know the answer to that question,” said Miller.

The incident was a reminder of why the US wanted to see a ceasefire to bring an end to the conflict, he said, arguing that was in Israel’s interest.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed several bodies wrapped in blankets on the ground outside a bombed four-storey building. More bodies and survivors were being retrieved from under the wreckage as neighbours rushed to help with rescue efforts.

“There are tens of martyrs [dead] — tens of displaced people were living in this house. The house was bombed without prior warning. As you can see, martyrs are here and there, with body parts hanging on the walls,” Ismail Ouaida, a witness who was helping to recover bodies, said in the video.

Later on Tuesday, said Palestinian health officials, several people were killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit three houses in Beit Lahiya.

On Monday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were trapped in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.

Gaza’s emergency service said its operations had come to a halt because of the three-week Israeli assault into northern Gaza. Israel says its campaign is to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose fighters had regrouped in the area in the year-long war.

Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and more than 250 hostages were captured and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

The death toll from Israel’s retaliatory air and ground onslaught in Gaza has exceeded 43,000, said the Gaza health ministry on Monday.

US steps up pressure on Israel over Gaza

Israel was not addressing the “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, said the US envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday as a deadline imposed by Washington loomed for Israel to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.

“Israel’s words must be matched by action on the ground. Right now, that is not happening. This must change — immediately,” the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the Security Council.

The US told its ally Israel in a letter on 13 October that it must take steps within 30 days.

“The US has stated clearly that Israel must allow food, medicine and other supplies into all of Gaza — especially the north, and especially as winter sets in — and protect the workers distributing it,” said Thomas-Greenfield.

Her remarks came as Norway said it would put forward a UN General Assembly resolution seeking an International Court of Justice opinion on whether Israel violated international law by preventing the UN, international aid groups and states from providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians.

Israel bans UN aid agency Unrwa from operating in country

Israel passed a law on Monday banning the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa from operating in the country, legislation that could impact its work in war-torn Gaza.

The legislators who drafted the law cited what they described as the involvement of some Unrwa staffers in the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel and staffers having membership in Hamas and other armed groups.

The legislation has alarmed the UN and some of Israel’s Western allies who fear it would further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants for a year. The ban does not refer to operations in the Palestinian territories or elsewhere.

“Unrwa workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media after the vote.

“In the 90 days before this legislation takes effect — and after — we stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security.”

Parliament also passed an addendum to the new law saying that Israeli authorities could no longer have contact with Unrwa, but exceptions to that could be made in the future.

The head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, called the vote a “dangerous precedent” that opposed the UN charter and violated Israel’s obligation under international law.

“This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit Unrwa and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to #Palestine Refugees,” he wrote on X.

Unrwa, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, employs tens of thousands of workers and provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for Unrwa to be disbanded, with its responsibilities transferred to other UN agencies.

Israel’s decision to ban Unrwa could result in the deaths of more children and represent a form of collective punishment for Gazans if fully implemented, said UN agencies on Tuesday.

“If Unrwa is unable to operate, it’ll likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” said Unicef spokesperson James Elder, who has worked extensively in Gaza since the 7 October war began. “So a decision such as this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children.”

Palestinian health authorities’ data show that more than 13,300 children whose identities have been confirmed have been killed in the Gaza war. Many more are believed to have died from diseases due to a collapsing medical system and food and water shortages.

The World Health Organization’s Tarik Jasarevic said that about a third of the healthcare workers helping with the ongoing polio vaccination campaign for children in Gaza worked with Unrwa. Unrwa has about 1,000 health workers in Gaza, he added.

Hamas ‘open to discussing new deal to end Gaza war’

A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday the Palestinian militant group was studying new proposals from mediators to end the Gaza war but reiterated that these should entail a complete Israeli military withdrawal from the enclave.

“The movement has confirmed it is open to any deal or ideas that ends the suffering of our people in Gaza and achieves a permanent ceasefire, and the occupation’s withdrawal from all of Gaza Strip,” said Sami Abu Zuhri in a televised speech.

He also said an agreement must end the Israeli-led blockade of the coastal enclave, allow unrestricted relief aid and a reconstruction of Gaza, and achieve a swap of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Abu Zuhri’s statement signalled no change to the faction’s outstanding conditions. Netanyahu says the war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.

Qatar would work as a mediator along with US President Joe Biden’s administration “until the last minute” before the 5 November presidential election to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, said a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday.

Israeli military chief warns Iran not to retaliate

Israel’s military chief warned Iran on Tuesday to stand down from any retaliation for Israel’s airstrikes near Tehran last week, which followed an Iranian missile barrage on 1 October.

“If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time,” chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi told air and ground crews who took part in the strike on Iran against missile factories and other sites last Saturday.

Gaza humanitarian crisis ‘could develop into famine’

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) called on Tuesday for immediate action to avert famine in the Gaza Strip, warning that the humanitarian crisis there could soon worsen amid what it said were severe restrictions on aid flows.

A global monitor warned this month that the whole of the Palestinian enclave remained at risk of famine, with Israeli military operations adding to concerns and hampering humanitarian access.

“Now, as the situation in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate, the likelihood of a larger group being impacted by famine will surely increase unless conditions on the ground improve,” said WFP, the United Nations’ food agency.

WFP said that it had approximately 94,000 tonnes of food standing by in Egypt and Jordan that could feed one million people for four months, but that could not bring it into Gaza because too few entry points were open and others were not safe enough.

Since Israel seized the Rafah crossing with Egypt in May, all routes into Gaza have been controlled by Israel.

“Restrictions on humanitarian aid coming into Gaza are severe,” said WFP, adding that only 5,000 tonnes had entered the Gaza Strip this month. DM

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