GAZA: Israeli strikes hit several parts of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Palestinian health officials said at least 57 people were killed in Israeli bombardments of southern and central areas.
The Palestinian group Hamas has accused Israel of stepping up attacks in Gaza to try to derail efforts by Arab mediators and the United States to reach a ceasefire deal. Israel says it is trying to root out Hamas fighters.
In Rafah, a southern border city where Israeli forces have been operating since May, five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a house, Gaza health officials said. In nearby Khan Yunis, a man, his wife, and two children were killed, they said.
Later on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike on a car killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded 26 others in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the officials said.
The airstrike hit near a tented area housing displaced families in Attar Street in the humanitarian-designated area of Al Mawasi, the health ministry said.
Footage showed residents carrying bodies of the dead and wounded on donkey carts and in rickshaws to hospitals.
"The car was targeted, the blood was splashing, and shrapnel hit our tents and martyrs were left on the street. We screamed: ‘We need an ambulance'. We put (the casualties) on carts and rickshaws and the ambulance came after a while,” said eyewitness Tahrir Matir, who lives in a tent nearby.
In the historic Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, at least four Palestinians were killed in separate shelling and aerial strikes in central Gaza, medics said. An Israeli airstrike killed four in Sheikh Zayed in northern Gaza, they said.
Hours later, an Israeli air strike on a UN-run school that housed displaced families in the Nuseirat camp killed 23 people and wounded many others, health officials said.
Among those killed was local journalist Mohammad Meshmesh, taking the number of journalists killed in the conflict to 160, the Gaza government media office said.
At least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities said in their latest update on Tuesday.
Relatives visited Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza to say farewell to relatives before funerals. "We’re exhausted, we’re devastated, we are extremely tired, our patience is over," said elderly Palestinian Sahar Abu Emeira. "Whether Hamas or the others (Israel) they need to agree as soon as possible."
Efforts to end the conflict stalled on Saturday after three days of negotiations failed to produce a viable outcome, Egyptian security sources said, and after an Israeli strike killing 90 people. — Reuters
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