Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 32 Palestinians since dawn on Tuesday, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as Israeli strikes continue to pound targets across the Strip.
According to The Associated Press, one Israeli airstrike hit a home in the southern city of Khan Younis early in the morning, killing at least nine Palestinians, including four women and four children. The victims included a two-year-old girl and her parents.
“They were asleep, sleeping in God’s peace. They had nothing to do with anything,” Awad Dahliz, the two-year-old girl’s grandfather, told AP. “What is the fault of this innocent child?”
AP also reported that Israeli strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza, killed three children and their parents, and an Israeli attack in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killed a man and two children. The Israeli military also destroyed bulldozers and other heavy machinery being used to clear rubble, claiming Hamas used them to plant explosives.
Israeli strikes on Gaza intensified on Tuesday, according to reports on the ground. “What we are seeing is truly extraordinary in terms of very huge momentum of air strikes and artillery bombardments that have been seen over the course of the past 24 hours,” said Tareq Abu Azzoum, a reporter for Al Jazeera.
“It has been quite obvious that these attacks are focused on eradicating entire families – we’re talking about four generations being wiped out – and also a more systematic escalation has been taking place on targeting heavy machinery that has been allowed to enter Gaza during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal,” Azzoum added.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its daily update, which it releases about midday Gaza time, that at least 26 Palestinians were killed and 60 were wounded over the previous 24-hour period. The numbers are based on dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals and morgues.
“There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
Since Israel resumed its genocidal war on March 18, which it did with full US support, the Health Ministry has recorded the deaths of 1,890 Palestinians. Another 4,950 Palestinians have been wounded.
