Children among 62 killed as Israel pounds Gaza from north to south

Health officials say at least 62 people are killed in a day as tens of thousands face forced displacement under latest Israeli orders.

Renewed Israeli bombardments across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of Palestinians, including children, as the Israeli army has issued a new round of forced displacement orders across the besieged territory.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said at least 62 people were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24-hour reporting period. At least 23 people, including seven children, were killed in overnight attacks, according to medical sources.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, media’s Hind Khoudary said different areas across the Strip were under heavy artillery shelling and air attacks.

In southern Gaza, at least five Palestinians were killed in attacks that hit two tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, she said. Another eight Palestinians were killed in an attack on a residential home in Bureij in central Gaza while more attacks were reported in northern areas, including in Gaza City and Jabalia. In Beit Lahiya, also in the north, an Israeli attack killed at least three Palestinians, including a three-year-old girl.

“There have been continuous air strikes on civilians’ homes and where Palestinians are sheltering,” Khoudary said.

After the latest attacks, Hamas issued a statement denouncing the “horrific massacres” and urged the international community to rein in Israel, which last week broke a two-month ceasefire with the Palestinian group.

In its latest round of forced displacement orders, the Israeli army on Tuesday warned of new attacks in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Shujayea in Gaza City, saying rockets had been fired towards Israel from the northern area. Other orders were also issued for Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

A number of aid groups and United Nations agencies have long said there are no safe areas in Gaza as Israeli-designated “humanitarian zones” and shelters have repeatedly come under Israeli attack.

The international charity Save the Children on Tuesday called the resumption of the war “a death sentence” for children in besieged Gaza.

“Children are being killed in their sleep in tents. They are being starved and attacked. The only way to ensure children and families are protected is through a definitive ceasefire,” it said.

Nearly 18 months of Israeli attacks have killed more than 50,000 people and wounded about 113,000, according to the Health Ministry, while thousands more are missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings and presumed dead. The Israeli war began after Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, led to an estimated 1,139 people being killed and about 250 taken captive.

‘Children killed in their sleep’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the renewed offensive aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining 59 captives who are being held in Gaza. About 24 of them are believed to still be alive.

Hamas says it wants Israel to abide by what it agreed on when it signed the January ceasefire, including holding talks on ending the war permanently in exchange for the release of the remaining captives.