Israeli attacks continued to pound Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 110 Palestinians since dawn, Al Jazeera reported, as the Israeli military is expanding its ground offensive in the besieged territory.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said earlier in the day that since Israel restarted its genocidal war on Tuesday, at least 506 Palestinians, including 200 children and 112 women, have been killed, a total that doesn’t account for all the deaths on Thursday. Another 909 people have been wounded, including 303 children and 205 women.
The massive child casualties being reported by the Health Ministry align with accounts from healthcare workers treating patients at Gaza’s hospitals. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon volunteering at a hospital in Khan Younis, told Antiwar.com that the morning Israel resumed its massive bombing campaign, he and other medical staff operated “almost exclusively on women and children.”
Israeli strikes on Thursday pounded targets across the Strip, including residential buildings in Khan Younis, where at least 20 Palestinians were killed. A 25-day-old baby was recovered from the rubble in Khan Younis after her family was killed. In Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes. Among the dead on Thursday was a newborn baby.
The Israeli military launched an invasion of Beit Lahia as it hit the city with airstrikes. A day earlier, Israeli troops retook the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip. Later on Thursday, the IDF re-invaded the southern city of Rafah.
Hamas said on Thursday that it fired a rocket barrage toward Tel Aviv in response to the Gaza slaughter, marking the group’s first known attack since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19. The Israeli military said it intercepted one rocket, and two others fell in open areas. No casualties were reported.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made an explicit threat to the civilian population of Gaza, warning they will face “utter destruction and devastation” if they don’t free Israeli hostages and oust Hamas. The US is strongly backing Israel’s escalations in Gaza, which includes a total blockade on aid and all other goods entering the territory.
