Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said an Israeli air strike in a community in Gaza City killed 23 people on Wednesday, including eight children and injured more than 70 people. About 20 people were missing, but rescuers had little equipment to pull them out of the ruins, officials said.
The Israeli military said it had been targeting Hamas agents, and the surgical staff said it was responsible for the planned attack. It does not name the operator or provides more details. The number of deaths in civil defense cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified. The Gaza Ministry of Health has not released the death toll.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Chinchi said the strike had destroyed eight homes in Shajaiye, an area that had been hit hard.
Rescuers tried to release dusty people in the wreck with a small number of shovels, tools and naked hands. They nervously pushed the collapsed ceiling away from a man trapped below.
Two men cross the moon landscape on the street and lift a small body with colorful blankets. A donkey cart pulls another wrapped body away.
Hazem Rajab, 49, sat on his living room sofa when he heard a sudden explosion on Wednesday. His son Yusuf, 12, stood in front of him. Mr Rajab recalled in a telephone interview that the ceiling was in trouble and Yusuf disappeared.
He said rescuers arrived about 15 minutes later to rescue Mr Rajab, who was protected by concrete pillars falling on him and two other children. But Yousuf was killed.
Mr Rajab said it was only about three months since Rajab's wife, another son and their three daughters were killed in “the greatest loss of our lives”.
Mr Basal said other air strikes were attacked elsewhere nearby on Wednesday, but rescuers have not been able to respond to the strikes yet.
Israel faces international condemnation of their air strikes on tens of thousands of people in Gaza. The Israeli military said Hamas agents were embedded in civilians. On Wednesday, it said it took “many steps” to reduce harm to civilians before using aerial surveillance, “other intelligence” and precise weapons.
A New York Times investigation found that the Israeli military's rules on how many civilians could endanger each air strike, noting that international law experts pointed out that Israel has an obligation to protect civilians.
Dozens of injured survivors were taken to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, where volunteer doctor Khamis Elessi said the bleeding kids were crowded in the emergency room.
“It makes you cry,” Mr. Elessi, 56, said in a phone interview. “When I saw these kids, I imagined they were mine. I don't care if the two parties were fighting each other, but there was nothing the kids could do about it.”
He said many people in the emergency room were treated on the floor because the hospital did not have free beds. Gaza's health care system is working to deal with casualties, especially after Israel prevents all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza on March 2, including medical supplies and fuel.
The sound of crying and screaming filled the hospital's morgue, and the dead were arranged. A man screamed as he grabbed his son's body. His relatives had to pull him away.
Gaza health officials said more than 50,000 people have been killed since Israel began its strike in October 2023 in response to Hamas-led attacks on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people. Neither distinguishes between combatants and civilians.
The Israeli military said on Friday that its troops had begun operating in Shajaiye to expand the buffer zone described by the military, next to the border between Israel and Gaza.
The military ordered people to step up ground movements later last week to leave parts of northern Gaza. But while many adhere to many, others chose to stay, saying they could not face more unrest after lasting displacement in the early days of the war. Israel occupies more and more territory, while Gaza people go to less places.
Alaa Al-Sosi, 42, said she and her children had to return to Shajaiye after fleeing the area on Wednesday. “We have nowhere else,” she said.
During the first 15 months of the war, the battle between the Israeli military and Hamas reduced most of Shajaiye's time to a wasteland.
A shaky ceasefire paused the fight and allowed more humanitarian help to enter Gaza from January to March. But Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, and the two sides failed to reach an agreement to expand the truce and carried out new air strikes.
Since then, the Israeli military has repeatedly bombed Gaza and occupied more territory, a strategy that Israeli officials say is intended to force Hamas to release more hostages.
Adam Rasgon Contributed reports from Jerusalem, Abu Bakr Bashir From London and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Haifa from Israel.
