Over a dozen Palestinians were killed overnight and early Tuesday as warplanes and artillery continued targeting homes in Gaza on the fifteenth day of Israel’s offensive, Gaza residents confirmed.
The latest series of Israeli attacks brought the Palestinian death toll to over 600, according to Palestinian health officials, with over 3,500 Palestinians injured.
“Since starting our ground operation in Gaza, we have struck 1,388 terror sites and killed 183 terrorists,” an IDF spokesperson said on his Twitter account.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital was hit by Israeli airstrikes on Monday, destroying its two top floors. At least four Palestinians were killed, according to United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Meanwhile 25 Israeli soldiers and 2 Israeli civilians have been killed in fighting, the UNOCHA reported.
Four mosques were also demolished on Tuesday morning. Since the Israeli offensive began, more than 470 Palestinian homes have been completely destroyed.
“The numbers of the martyrs are increasing,” a Gaza resident said, “The airstrikes targeted the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, and are still targeting the Shuja’a neighbourhood. We don’t know the exact number of martyrs until now.”
According to the UNOCHA, there are now more than 100,000 displaced Palestinians seeking shelter in UNRWA schools. On Monday, 25 members of one family, including 18 children, were killed as an Israeli airstrike targeted their house, as reported by the UNOCHA. Other reports say the airstrike killed 28 members of this family.
Israeli soldiers also killed one Palestinian man while dispersing a protest in the West Bank, Reuters reported.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesperson for Arab media said: “The Israeli Defense Forces took control of most of the tunnels dug by terrorist forces in the Gaza strip.”
As Egypt maintains closure of the Rafah border, there remains no place for Gaza residents to flee.
At least 121 children have been killed since the Israeli assault began, as estimated by UNICEF.
“At least 107,000 children require direct and specialised psychosocial support (PSS) on the basis of families who have experienced death, injury or loss of home over the past thirteen days,” read the UNOCHA report.
“Death is looming everywhere in Gaza,” another Gaza resident said.
