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RAFA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rescue officials said Saturday that an Israeli airstrike killed 76 members of an extended family, a day after the U.N. chief warned again that nowhere in Gaza is safe. and ongoing Israeli attacks are creating “enormous disruptions”. Distribution of humanitarian aid.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense department, said Friday’s attack on a building in Gaza City was one of the deadliest attacks in the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 12th week. He provided a partial list of the names of those killed – 16 heads of families from the al-Mughrabi family – and said the dead included women and children.
The dead included Issam al-Mughrabi, a veteran United Nations Development Program employee, his wife and their five children.
“The loss of Issam and his family has affected us all deeply. Achim Steiner, the agency’s head, said the UN and Gaza are not civilian targets. “This war must end.”
Israel declared war after cross-border attack by Hamas militants 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage. Israel has vowed to continue the fight Unless Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all hostages are freed.
more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed More than 53,000 people have been injured in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic militant group for the past 16 years.
Israel has blamed Hamas for the increase in civilian deaths, citing the group’s use of its tunnels under crowded residential areas and urban areas for military purposes. It has carried out thousands of airstrikes since October 7, and has largely avoided commenting on specific strikes, including discussing the intended targets.
The United Nations Security Council adopted it on Friday a weak resolution It calls for immediate acceleration of aid distribution to desperate citizens in Gaza.
The United States won a tough call for an “immediate suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas. It abstained from the vote, as did Russia, which wanted stronger language. This was the first resolution on war to pass through the Council, after the US had vetoed the first two resolutions calling for a humanitarian pause and a complete ceasefire.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his long-standing call for a humanitarian ceasefire. He expressed hope that Friday’s resolution could help do so, but said “much more is urgently needed” to end the ongoing “nightmare” for the people in Gaza.
He told a press conference that it was a mistake to measure the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation in Gaza by the number of trucks.
“The real problem is that the way Israel is carrying out this attack is creating huge obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid inside Gaza,” he said. He said the prerequisites for an effective aid operation do not exist – security, staff who can work in safety, logistics capacity especially trucks, and the resumption of commercial activity.
Israel’s air and ground attacks have been one of The most destructive military operation in recent historydisplacing about 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and leveling the wider area small coastal area, According to it, more than half a million people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are dying of hunger. for a report This week from the United Nations and other agencies.
Protected by the Biden administration, Israel has so far resisted international pressure to reduce. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said late Friday that forces were “increasing the ground offensive in additional areas of the strip, focusing on the south.”
He said operations were also ongoing in the northern part of Gaza, including Gaza City, the initial focus of Israel’s ground offensive. The army said it carried out airstrikes against Hamas fighters in several locations in Gaza City.
The army also said on Saturday it had transferred more than 700 alleged militants from Gaza to Israel for further interrogation, including more than 200 killed last week. controversial policy This includes the mass arrest of Palestinian men.
Palestinians have reported such roundups in areas of northern Gaza controlled by ground troops, saying they typically include all teenage boys and men found in areas being searched by troops. Some released detainees have said they were stripped to their underwear, beaten, and held for days with very little water to drink. The army has denied allegations of abuse and said those who had no connection to militants were immediately released.
Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants, including nearly 2,000 in the past three weeks, but has offered no evidence to support the claim. He says that 139 of his soldiers have been killed in the ground attack.
Following the UN resolution, it was not immediately clear how and when aid deliveries would accelerate. Currently, trucks enter through two crossings – Rafah on the Egyptian border and Kerem Shalom on the Israeli border.
As part of the approved resolution, the US negotiated the removal of language that would have given the UN the authority to inspect aid going to Gaza, with Israel saying it should continue to ensure that materials reach Hamas. Did not reach.
Family and friends of Israeli soldier Lt. Yaakov Elyon mourn at the grave of Israeli soldier Lt. Yaakov Elyon during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. The 20-year-old Israeli was killed during an Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip. Where it is battling Palestinian terrorists in the war sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilti)
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, thanked the US for its support and sharply criticized the UN for its failure to condemn Hamas’ October 7 attacks. The US in October vetoed a resolution that would have included condemnation because it did not highlight Israel’s right to self-defense.
Hamas said in a statement that the UN resolution should have demanded an immediate halt to the Israeli attack, and it blamed the United States for “undermining the essence of the resolution” ahead of Friday’s Security Council vote. Ordained.
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Magee reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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