Israeli strike on Gaza house kills many, medics and rescuers say

Dozens of people have been killed and wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia in northern Gaza, Palestinian medics and rescuers say.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa and Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency said at least 30 people had been killed. The civil defence said the dead included 13 children.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck a site in Jabalia where “terrorists were operating”, steps had been taken to mitigate civilian harm and the details were under review.

Aid groups say Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza have been under siege since early October when Israel launched a new ground offensive against Hamas.

Israel is facing a US deadline that expires within days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on military cooperation.

Dr Fadel Naim, director of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, told AP news agency that his facility had received 17 bodies from Jabalia so far, including those of nine women, and the death toll was likely to rise.

Eyewitnesses described the Israeli strike on the building said to have belonged to the Alloush family as an “earthquake”.

“We were just sitting peacefully. These are innocent citizens who don’t belong to any military organization or faction,” eyewitness and relative to the victims Hamza Alloush told Reuters.

The house “was bombed over the residents’ heads without warning, which led to the martyrdom of everyone inside. Those who were lucky enough to survive were thrown onto the trees, onto the neighbours, and the remains are still scattered under the rubble”, he said.

Videos and images showed multiple bodies wrapped in blankets in the back of cars and laid to the ground at a hospital.

Israel does not allow the BBC and other international media into Gaza to report independently, making it difficult to verify facts on the ground, so we often rely on information from footage and witness testimonies.

Another strike in Gaza City killed a welfare ministry official and seven members of his family, including his wife and children, medics and relatives said.

The UN previously said the “darkest moment” of the war in Gaza was unfolding in the northern part of the territory.

On Saturday, Israel rejected warnings of famine in northern Gaza from global food security experts, saying the group relied on “partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests”.

The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine and that immediate action was required to ease a catastrophic situation.

Israel said it had increased aid efforts, including opening an additional crossing on Friday to get more aid into southern Gaza.

The IDF later said it had delivered 11 trucks of food, water and medical aid into Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on Thursday.

On Friday the UN’s Human Rights Office said nearly 70% of victims in Gaza within a six-month period were women and children.

About 80% of victims were killed in residential buildings or similar housing, the UN agency added.

It said the high number of civilian deaths was largely due to Israel’s use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas, although some deaths may have been the result of errant projectiles by Palestinian armed groups.

Israel has previously said that it targets Hamas and takes steps to mitigate risk to civilians by using precise munitions.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach a ceasefire have stalled, with Qatar suspending its work as a mediator until Hamas and Israel “show their willingness” to negotiate.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN sees as reliable, has reported a death toll of more than 43,600 people since the start of the war. Many more bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.

Over the last 24 hours, 51 dead bodies from Israeli attacks had been brought to hospitals, the ministry said.

Israel launched its current military offensive in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on 7 October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.