Dozens killed in attacks in Gaza City – DW – 23.06.2024

At least 39 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on various neighborhoods in Gaza City on Saturday, officials in the Hamas-controlled area said.

The Israeli military said warplanes had attacked “two Hamas military infrastructure facilities in the Gaza City area” in the north of the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist group by Germany, the United States and others, did not comment on Israel’s claim that it had carried out attacks on the militant Islamist group’s facilities.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency aid organization active in the Gaza Strip, said its rescue workers were on the scene of a strike in the Shati camp west of Gaza City.

The group said it had recovered several bodies from the site of another attack on a building in an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City.

Israel denies “direct attack” on Red Cross

Saturday’s attacks came a day after at least 25 people were killed and another 50 injured in what Gaza authorities described as an Israeli attack on a tent camp in Muwasi, near a facility of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that there was “no direct attack by the IDF on a Red Cross facility,” but added that they would continue to investigate the incident and “present the results to our international partners.”

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, called for an “independent investigation” into the incident.

Tens of thousands protest in Tel Aviv

The latest attacks on Gaza come at a time when dissatisfaction with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is growing in Israel.

Late Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, chanting calls for new elections and the release of hostages held in Gaza. Many demonstrators held signs reading “Stop the war.”

The current conflict in the Gaza Strip broke out following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, which killed around 1,200 people.

Hamas and allied groups also took around 250 people hostage in the attack, many of whom are still in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, more than 37,551 people have been killed since then.

js,lo/fb,rm (AP, dpa, Reuters)