At least 73 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza’s Beit Lahia

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An Israeli air strike on Gaza’s northern city of Beit Lahia killed at least 73 people on Saturday night, official Palestinian media reported as rescuers combed the rubble for survivors.
Israel launched “violent raids” across Beit Lahia late on Saturday, the official Wafa news agency said, destroying an entire residential block. Dozens more were wounded. The death toll is expected to rise, with many victims still under rubble, according to Gaza’s civil defence.
Israeli drones also fired at an ambulance and tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the grounds of Al Awda Hospital, Wafa added. It came hours after a child was killed and several others wounded in Israeli shelling on Nuseirat refugee camp.
Beit Lahia, the nearby Jabalia refugee camp and other parts of northern Gaza have been besieged by Israeli forces for more than two weeks. The site of Saturday’s deadly attack was even more densely populated than usual after civilians fled from other parts of the north, according to local reports.
Renewed air strikes were reported on several homes in Jabalia camp overnight, while Israeli tanks advanced on the nearby Indonesian Hospital and partially demolished the hospital walls. At least two people are reported to have died and dozens are trapped inside the hospital, which has been targeted by Israeli forces for several days. The centre has been attacked several times since the war began, with its grounds described as a “mass grave” following an Israeli raid last November.
Israeli troops also shelled the Al Awda Hospital three times, injuring several staff, Wafa added.
Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in northern Gaza, where little food or aid has entered since the siege began earlier this month. The army operation has resulted in “the demolition, destruction, and burning of entire residential neighbourhoods”, Wafa said on Saturday night, killing hundreds of people and preventing medical crews from reaching the wounded.
Soldiers and tanks also surrounded shelters for the displaced, arresting a number of men and boys. No details were given on the time or place of their arrest.