GAZA, Sept. 24 — At least 55 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday due to Israeli attacks, according to official and local Palestinian sources.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, told Xinhua that 22 people, including children and women, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting warehouses belonging to the Gaza Municipality, which housed dozens of displaced families in eastern Gaza City.
Basal added that Civil Defense teams are still working to recover victims from under the rubble. “A massive explosion occurred in the early hours of the morning, killing and wounding a large number of people instantly.
Several bodies remain under the rubble,” said local eyewitness Anwar Ershi. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the airstrike.
Meanwhile, Basal said 15 more people were killed in separate airstrikes on the Al-Sahaba and Shuja’iyya neighborhoods and the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, and six others died in an airstrike on the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
He added that 12 people were killed in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, including eight who were shot by Israeli forces while trying to obtain food outside an aid distribution center south of the city.
The casualties come amid ongoing Israeli ground operations, with Israeli tanks advancing into the Al-Sabra and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods in southern Gaza City, as well as the Al-Nasr and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods in the north, amid artillery shelling and gunfire, according to local sources and eyewitnesses.
Local witnesses reported that the Israeli army has been detonating explosive-laden military vehicles, causing widespread destruction to residential buildings.
Israeli public radio Kan said the army has expanded its military operations in northern Gaza City over the past two days. The report added that these moves could split the northern Gaza Strip into two parts, creating a fourth axis dividing the enclave.
On Wednesday, Hamas called on countries worldwide to impose a comprehensive boycott of Israel and isolate it legally, politically, and economically, a day after Spain approved a full arms embargo on Israel in response to the ongoing war in Gaza. (Xinhua)
