By Elham Asaad Buaras
London, (The Muslim News): At least 102 Palestinians were killed in a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to medics and Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than half of the victims were civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, highlighting the increasing toll of Israel’s military campaign, which has now killed over 57,130 Palestinians and wounded 134,592 others since October 2023.
In northern Gaza, 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in strikes on crowds gathered for aid near Al-Nabulsi Roundabout and along the Netzarim Corridor, just south of Gaza City. Another attack on aid seekers in the southern city of Rafah killed seven and injured 30 near Al-Shakoush. In Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital reported receiving 26 bodies, including seven civilians killed while awaiting assistance in the Al-Tahlia area.
One of the deadliest attacks occurred in central Gaza City, where Israeli warplanes bombed the Mustafa Hafiz School, which was being used as a shelter by displaced residents. The airstrike killed 17 people, with medics reporting that many bodies arrived at the hospital severely burned after the building caught fire.
Additional strikes in northern and central Gaza killed eight people, including four in a civilian gathering on Yaffa Street in eastern Gaza City and four more in the Bureij refugee camp. A woman was killed and others injured in an attack on a family home in Al-Daraj neighbourhood. In the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, a body was recovered from the rubble of a bombed school.
Drone and artillery attacks continued across Gaza. A drone strike on a civilian group near Halawa Roundabout in Jabalia killed two and wounded three, while another person was killed near a care centre in the same area. Artillery shelling in western Beit Lahia killed three more civilians. Separate drone strikes in Al-Zeitoun and Al-Tuffah neighbourhoods killed three Palestinians and left others injured. Three more people succumbed to injuries sustained in previous attacks, medics said.
Despite mounting international pressure for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its military offensive. The UN warned on Thursday that Israeli authorities had either blocked or disrupted the majority of humanitarian aid missions throughout June, severely hampering relief operations amid catastrophic conditions for civilians. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that “out of nearly 400 such coordination attempts, 44 percent were outright denied by Israeli authorities. Another 10 percent were initially accepted but faced impediments. Only a third were fully facilitated, while about 12 percent had to be cancelled by the organisers for logistical, operational or security reasons.”
Dujarric also highlighted the ongoing danger faced by aid workers, noting that nine were killed over the past week alone. “That brings the total number of aid workers killed to 107 so far this year, and 479 since October 2023. Among them are 326 UN staff,” he said.
Israel’s war on Gaza is being closely scrutinised by international legal bodies. In November 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Separately, Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its conduct in the enclave.
Israel continues atrocities in West Bank
The violence has also continued in the occupied West Bank. On Thursday, Israeli forces shot and killed 61-year-old Walid Hassan Saad Badir near the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Local sources said Badir was shot at the camp’s eastern entrance and later died in hospital.
Since the start of the war in October, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 989 Palestinians and injured more than 7,000 others in the West Bank, the Health Ministry reported. The Israeli military continues operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps, fuelling a wider escalation across the occupied territories.
[Photo: Palestinians gather for receive food on July 03, 2025 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians are struggling with hunger due to Israeli attacks on Gaza and aid blockade by Israel – preventing humanitarian aid reaching Gaza. Photojournalist:Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
