“Horrifying scenes” are unfolding in the Gaza town of Beit Lahia, where the Israeli regime’s airstrikes overnight and into Sunday killed dozens of Palestinians, most of them women and children, the UN says.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said in a Sunday statement that “nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
“The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.”
“This war must end,” Wennesland said, adding that the displacement of Palestinians must cease, and civilians must be protected wherever they are.
Gaza's Health Ministry said that at least 87 people were killed or missing in the Israeli airstrikes on Beit Lahia.
Israeli forces also bombed Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, causing damage to the facility’s water tanks and electricity grid, according to the hospital’s director Hussam Abu Safia.
The attack has severely disrupted medical services there, he said.
Horrifying scenes unfolding in Gaza, amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes & an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis. I condemn the continuing attacks on civilians. Hostages must be freed, displacement of Palestinians must cease, & civilians must be protected.
— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) October 20, 2024
My Statement👇 pic.twitter.com/IoBoL8mVgq
Abu Safia said the area surrounding the hospital had been subjected to intense bombing and gunfire for several hours, placing patients and medical staff in danger.
This assault on the hospital is part of a broader campaign of relentless air and artillery strikes that have pummeled northern Gaza for 16 days.
An emergency physician, who recently left Gaza, says Gaza hospitals, particularly in the north, cannot provide basic levels of care anymore.
James Smith told Aljazeera that the three major hospitals in the area— Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital—have all been struck by Israeli forces in recent days.
“They have been systematically deprived of basic medical equipment and fuel.”
He said two patients were killed because of the lack of fuel required to run essential medical equipment at the Indonesian Hospital.
Palestinian health authorities said Saturday that the three partially functioning hospitals in the Northern Gaza Strip have been surrounded and shelled by Israel’s military tanks.
They said the regime's forces deliberately bomb hospitals, which exacerbates the humanitarian situation.