By Abdul Adil
(the Muslim News) : 52 Palestinians were killed and 208 others injured by Israeli Defence Forces in indiscriminate bombings in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll to 38,295 and 88,241 others injured since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Wednesday.
The Israeli army ordered all Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza City as it was striking UNRWA’s headquarters there and a day after at least 27 people were killed and 53 injured in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced civilians in Khan Younis.
Four schools have been hit in as many days as Israel has forced thousands of Palestinians to flee Khan Younis and Gaza City. At least three key hospitals have been forced to shutdown in northern Gaza.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
On Tuesday, at least 25 people were killed and 53 others injured in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Abasan town, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
It came days after another Israeli attack on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on July 6, which killed at least 16 people and injured dozens.
The Israeli army on Wednesday ordered all Gaza City residents to evacuate and head towards the central city of Deir al-Balah.
The military dropped leaflets calling on residents to leave Gaza City immediately and head south towards Zawaida and Deir al-Balah.
“Gaza City will be a dangerous combat zone,” the leaflets warn.
The flyers provide instructions on safe routes to evacuate Gaza City, via the Salah a-Din road or the coastal road.
Earlier this week, the army ordered Palestinian residents in western neighborhoods of Gaza City to leave and head towards Deir al-Balah.
Although the army designated Deir al-Balah and Zawaida as safe zones, the army continued to pound these areas, causing many fatalities among Palestinians.
At least eight Palestinians were reported killed on Wednesday in Israeli overnight airstrikes on homes in the central Gaza Strip as the Israeli deadly onslaught enters day 278, local media reported.
The Palestinian official news agency Wafa said eight Palestinians, including six children, were killed and dozens of others injured in Israeli airstrikes on homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Other Israeli shelling was reported in different areas of the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli raid on Naser Street in northern Gaza City that left some 10 people injured.
The Israeli army destroyed more buildings in the Mughraga area in the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli heavy artillery also continued to strike the Saudi neighborhood in western Rafah city, in the southernmost of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian agency added.
Six Palestinian civilians were killed and others were injured in the Israeli occupation’s bombing of the central Gaza Strip and the city of Khan Yunis.
The sources added that at least two civilians were killed and six others were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a house in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis.
Meanwhile eight civilians, including six children, were killed, and ten others, including women, were injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted homes in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The warplanes also targeted commercial shops in the vicinity of the municipality in the camp, causing them to catch fire.
The Israeli artillery bombed areas southwest of Gaza City, wounding many Palestinians, including children and women, while a similar bombing targeted the Young Muslim Women’s Association inside the Yasmeen Building in Gaza City.
Earlier, the ministry initially said the Israeli army “committed a heinous massacre against displaced citizens by targeting the gate of a school sheltering displaced people in Abasan, resulting in the death of 19 Palestinians.”
The Palestine Red Crescent Society meanwhile reported casualties from an Israeli bombardment of the Abu Hameed roundabout in central Khan Younis.
Last week, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for Palestinian residents of several areas in eastern Khan Younis.
More than 10,000 Palestinians are still under the rubble of the destroyed homes, including over 5,000 children.
A total 34 children across the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern areas, died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration.
The Government Media Office said on May 1 that the losses and destruction from the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza exceeds $33bn.
Some 140 mass graves have been discovered across the Gaza Strip, according to the group EuroMed Rights. Seven mass graves were found in three hospitals containing over 520 bodies, including children and women, according to the health ministry.
[Photo: Palestinian women mourn killing of their close and dear relatives by Israeli indiscriminate bombings. Bodies brought to Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on 10 07 2024. Photojournalist: Ashraf Amra/ AA]
