Israeli attack hits mosque in central Gaza’s Nuseirat district

STORY: :: Palestinians survey the damage after an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in central Gaza

:: July 17, 2024

:: Nuseirat, Gaza

:: Zaid Daghish, resident of Nuseirat

“What did they want from the mosque, what is in the mosque? The mosque has been closed since the beginning of the war, no one prays in it. What did the mosque do to deserve this? What have our children done? We are really tired, we swear we are very tired. We are very tired of the Arab world. I swear to God, we are tired.”

Palestinians were seen rummaging through the rubble of the destroyed area, some clearing it away, others searching for belongings.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces bombed areas in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least nine Palestinians, health officials said, while Israeli tanks continued to make limited advances into Rafah in the south.

Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, Israeli figures showed.

On Tuesday (July 16), the military announced that it had eliminated half of the leadership of Hamas’ military wing; about 14,000 fighters have been killed or captured since the war began.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured in the Israeli military offensive against Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.