KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes targeted a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Sunday, resulting in the death of at least 38 individuals and leaving dozens injured, according to health officials. Despite calls from the United States to temporarily halt the offensive in order to provide assistance to civilians in need, Israel has chosen to continue its campaign against the Hamas rulers of the region.
The increasing death toll in Gaza has provoked international outrage, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in cities such as Washington and Berlin on Saturday, calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Israel has rejected proposals for humanitarian pauses during its offensive, including those presented by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his current visit to the region. Instead, Israel asserts that its military is fully engaged in combatting Hamas.
“Anyone in Gaza City is risking their life,” stated Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
As Israel’s offensive intensifies, columns of smoke fill the air as the military announces that it has surrounded Gaza City, its primary target. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that over 9,400 Palestinians have been killed during the month-long war, and this number is expected to rise further as the assault continues.
Overnight airstrikes struck the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 38 individuals and leaving many others wounded. A spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, Medhat Abbas, provided this information on Sunday. Arafat Abu Mashaia, a resident of the camp, described the scene as several multi-story homes used as shelters for displaced individuals were flattened by the Israeli airstrike. He vehemently denies the presence of any resistance fighters, stating, “It was a true massacre.”
There has been no immediate response from the Israeli military.
The refugee camp, which is a densely populated residential area, is situated in the evacuation zone where Israel’s military urged Palestinian civilians in Gaza to seek shelter as it focuses its offensive on the north.
Despite these appeals, Israel continues its bombardment across Gaza, claiming to target Hamas fighters and assets throughout the region. Critics argue that Israel’s strikes often cause excessive civilian casualties, particularly among women and children.
In a separate strike on Sunday, a building near the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City was leveled, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. Video footage released by the charity shows medical workers rushing a wounded man to the hospital as a woman and children follow closely behind.
Blinken held meetings with Arab foreign ministers in Jordan on Saturday after his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister insisted that there could be no temporary cease-fire until Hamas releases all hostages in their custody.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed the Arab countries’ demand for an immediate cease-fire, emphasizing the urgent need to prevent deepening animosity that could have long-lasting consequences.
However, Blinken argued that a cease-fire at this stage would only allow Hamas to regroup and repeat their past actions. Instead, he suggested that humanitarian pauses can be crucial for protecting civilians, delivering aid, and facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals while still enabling Israel to achieve its main objective of defeating Hamas.
Speaking in Beirut, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan urged Blinken to end the aggression and avoid proposing unfeasible ideas. Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, claimed in a speech that Israeli vehicles were destroyed and casualties were inflicted in the past two days.
Egyptian officials, along with Qatar, proposed humanitarian pauses lasting six to twelve hours each day to allow for aid delivery and the evacuation of casualties. Additionally, they requested that Israel release a number of women and elderly prisoners in exchange for hostages. However, it seems unlikely that Israel will accept these suggestions. Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity due to their lack of authority to brief the press on the discussions.
Israel has repeatedly urged the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to flee south, even offering a three-hour window for evacuation on Saturday. However, an Associated Press journalist observed no one taking advantage of this opportunity.
Israel claims that Hamas exploited this window to relocate to the south and launch an attack on its forces. There has been no immediate response from Hamas regarding this claim, and verifying its accuracy is impossible. Israeli planes dropped leaflets on Sunday urging people to head south during another window from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Residential neighborhoods in northern Gaza have suffered significant destruction due to airstrikes. UN monitors estimate that more than half of the remaining residents, approximately 300,000 people, are seeking refuge in UN-run facilities. However, these shelters have also been repeatedly hit and damaged by deadly Israeli strikes. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has reported that it has lost contact with many individuals in the north.
In a statement issued early Sunday, the Hamas-run municipality in the town of Beit Lahia declared that an Israeli airstrike destroyed a water well in Tal al-Zatar, cutting off water for tens of thousands of people in the area.
According to the UN, 1.5 million people in Gaza, which accounts for 70% of the population, have been displaced from their homes. Critical resources such as food, water, and fuel for essential facilities are dwindling.
The ongoing conflict has escalated tensions throughout the region, leading to exchanges of fire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon along the border.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at least two Palestinians were fatally shot during an Israeli arrest raid in Abu Dis, just outside Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Since the beginning of the war, at least 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, primarily during violent protests and gun battles during arrest raids.
Thousands of Israelis gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Saturday, demanding his resignation and the release of approximately 240 hostages held by Hamas. Netanyahu has refused to take responsibility for the October 7 attack in southern Israel that resulted in over 1,400 deaths. Ongoing rocket fire from Palestinian militants has forced tens of thousands of individuals to evacuate their homes.
In a radio interview on Sunday, junior government minister Amihai Eliyahu suggested that Israel could drop an atomic bomb on Gaza. However, he later clarified that his remarks were metaphorical. Netanyahu issued a statement disavowing the minister’s comments and asserting Israel’s commitment to minimizing harm to civilians.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 3,900 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza. The Israeli military has confirmed the deaths of four more soldiers during the Gaza ground operation, raising the total number of casualties to 28.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report.
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Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
