More than 90 killed or missing in Israeli strike on northern Gaza

At least 93 people have been reported killed or missing in a massive Israeli attack on northern Gaza early Tuesday, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The airstrike hit a five-story residential building in Beit Lahiya where displaced Palestinians were sheltering. Authorities said that 25 children are among the dead. Gaza’s Government Media Office said the building housed around 200 people.

Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it was overwhelmed by the wave of wounded people from the strike. Israeli forces raided the medical facility over the weekend, detaining dozens of medics.

While attention has shifted to Lebanon and Iran in recent weeks, Israel has continued to wage a large operation in northern Gaza and to carry out airstrikes across the territory.

“The healthcare system has completely collapsed,” Abu Safiya said in a voice message to journalists on Tuesday. He said people who arrive wounded are dying because there is no care for them.

The Israeli military has repeatedly struck shelters for displaced people in recent months, saying it carried out precise strikes targeting Hamas militants and their facilities and tried to avoid harming civilians.

Israel’s latest major operation in northern Gaza focused on the Jabaliya refugee camp, has reportedly killed hundreds of people and driven tens of thousands from their homes in another wave of mass displacement more than a year into the war in the tiny coastal territory.

The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 43,000, with over 100,000 wounded, according to authorities. Gaza’s health officials do not differentiate between civilians and combatants in their casualty reports.