Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip early Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared safe zones, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.
In the nearly two weeks since Israel began attacking in response to a devastating Hamas rampage in towns across southern Israel, airstrikes have relentlessly hit the densely populated territory. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north and head to what it called “safe zones” in the south, strikes continued across the entire territory.
The bombardments came after Israel agreed Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza, the first crack in a punishing 11-day siege. Many among Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink dirty water amid dwindling supplies.
The announcement of a plan to bring water, food and other supplies into Gaza happened as fury over the blast at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region.
There were conflicting claims of who was behind the deadly hospital explosion. Hamas officials in Gaza blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.
The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence.
Video from the scene showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Hundreds of wounded were rushed to Gaza City’s main hospital where doctors, already facing critical supply shortages, were sometimes forced to perform surgery on the floors, often without anesthesia.
More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes, roughly half of Gaza’s population. Many who fled the north and Gaza City, after Israel told them evacuate, have crowded into U.N. schools or the homes of relatives.
Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis said bombings were relentless overnight, with airstrikes hitting several homes, according to the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. In Rafah, on Egypt’s border, Israel hit several homes. Medical staff at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said they received at least 12 dead and 40 wounded.
Homes along the Gaza border with Israel in the northern evacuation zone were also hit, the ministry said. Israel has massed troops in the area and is expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made.
Airstrikes also hit three residential towers in al-Zahra, within the area that was told to evacuate, the Interior Ministry in Gaza said.