Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill 48 Palestinians Over 24 Hours

Israel again targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, killing a 16-year-old in a wheelchair

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli attacks killed 48 Palestinians and wounded 201 over the previous 24-hour period as relentless strikes continued.

Israeli strikes on Thursday included a drone attack right outside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. The strike killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy who was in a wheelchair.

The Health Ministry said the boy was killed while on his way to the radiology department. Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital, told Drop Site News that 12 others, including medical staff, were wounded by the Israeli strike.

Photo released by Gaza’s Health Ministry shows the aftermath of the strike that killed a 16-year-old in a wheelchair outside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia

Beit Lahia is one of the northern cities that’s been under a total Israeli siege since early October as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. The Israeli military said Thursday that 18,000 Palestinian civilians were “evacuated” from Beit Lahia, meaning they were forcibly displaced. The IDF has been demolishing all the buildings in the city to ensure civilians cannot return.

Israeli strikes also targeted Gaza City, killing at least 25 Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera, and children were among the bodies pulled out of the rubble. “Last night, we felt what seemed like a massive earthquake. Four multistorey buildings were flattened by Israeli warplanes. Many were killed and injured. I suffered this injury in the head,” Ashraf Heriz, a resident of Gaza City, told Al Jazeera.

The Health Ministry said the latest violence brought its death toll since October 2023 to 44,580 and the number of wounded to 105,739. “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.

A group of American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza estimated in an open letter to President Biden in October that the US-backed Israeli onslaught has killed at least 118,908 Palestinians, a total that includes indirect deaths caused by the Israeli siege. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, who led the letter, told Antiwar.com in a recent interview that the estimate was the bare minimum they came up with by looking at the available data.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.