By Abdul Adil
Gaza City, (Wafa, AA, Al Jazeera): Between the afternoons of 26 and 29 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 132 Palestinians were killed and 275 injured, including 34 killed and 68 injured by indiscriminate bombings by Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. Total number of Palestinians killed since 7 October 2023 is at least 34,488 and 77,643 injured by Israeli bombings in Gaza Strip, according to MoH. 12,000 Palestinians are missing.
Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Intensive strikes on Rafah also continue to be reported.
At least 43 people have been killed, and 26 of those who have been killed in overnight attacks and throughout the day happen to be from Rafah City.
There are reports of people still stuck under the rubble. There is also the inability of civil defence crews and paramedics and volunteers to reach those who might have survived these attacks.
It is increasingly becoming difficult to live in Rafah. One thing that the residents keep repeating here is that you can’t create a safe zone in a war zone.
The first strike targeted a house belonging to the Al-Khatib family in the Jeneina neighborhood, resulting in three fatalities, including a child, and several injuries.
The second airstrike targeted a house belonging to the Al-Khawaja family in the Shabora refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians, including a baby, and injuring others.
Ten Palestinians, including three children, were also killed, and several others injured in a third airstrike targeting a house belonging to the Abu Taha family in the Salam neighborhood.
Five Palestinians, including women and children, lost their lives in an Israeli bombing targeting a house belonging to a family in western Gaza City, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Sabra neighborhood, where two Palestinian women were killed, some people were injured and others were trapped under the rubble.
Israeli warplanes also hit several homes in the Al-Remal neighborhood and the Al-Shati Refugee Camp west of Gaza City, according to witnesses.
Other airstrikes targeted the vicinity of the Ansar governmental security complex in the western part of the city and a house in the Sabra neighborhood in the south, killing two Palestinians and injuring several others, according to medical sources.
Sources reported that Israeli war planes launched intense raids on agricultural lands west of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, they also targeted multiple civilians’ homes in West Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the injury of several people.
The UN on Monday warned that the water and sanitation system is nearing collapse in Gaza city of Rafah.
The situation in Gaza remains “dire and rough, where about half of Gaza is currently seeking shelter,” Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.
Dujarric said intensive strikes on Rafah are “continuing to be reported along with dozens of fatalities,” making it difficult for locals to access essential services such as healthcare, clean water, and sanitation facilities.
“The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility warned that the entire water and sanitation system is nearing collapse to address the rising needs for safe drinking water” in Rafah, he added.
According to the Israeli government, 1,139 Israelis were killed by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel, and 134 Israelis and foreign nationals are still detained by Hamas in Gaza.
[Photo: Relatives of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli airstrike mourn in El-Najar Hospital waiting for buried in Rafah, Gaza on 29 04 2024. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/ AA]
