Palestinians transport a body recovered from the rubble after returning to Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, following the cessation of Israeli bombardments on the camp, Nov. 29, 2024. (Credit: Eyad Baba/AFP)
Gaza’s Civil Defense reported Friday that at least 15 people were killed in two strikes in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, where the Israeli army has been conducting a large-scale offensive for nearly two months. Homes belonging to the Baba and Ahmed families were struck within the past 24 hours, and "only ten bodies could be retrieved," Civil Defense Spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.
"A person using a horse-drawn cart to recover martyrs from the Baba family home was targeted by an Israeli drone while returning to Kamal Adwan Hospital, causing the martyrdom of five additional people," Bassal added. According to him, 65 bodies remain "under the rubble" of the two targeted houses.
The northernmost part of the Palestinian territory has been the focus of a major offensive launched by the Israeli army on Oct. 6 around Jabalia and its surroundings. The operation aims, according to the Israeli military, to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its forces in the area.
At Kamal Adwan Hospital, located on the outskirts of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout, head of the intensive care unit, was killed in another Israeli strike, the hospital said in a statement.
The Israeli army, contacted by AFP, stated it was looking into the strikes on residential buildings. Regarding the doctor’s death, the army said it had "no knowledge of a strike in that location."
The war in Gaza began after Hamas launched an attack that left 1,207 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to AFP’s count based on official data, including hostages killed or who died in captivity.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza has resulted in at least 44,363 deaths, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, which are considered reliable by the UN.
