Death Toll in Israeli Strikes in Central Gaza Rises to 25

01 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians check the damage following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
01 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians check the damage following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Death Toll in Israeli Strikes in Central Gaza Rises to 25

01 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians check the damage following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
01 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians check the damage following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The death toll from Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip rose to 25, including five children, as more bodies have been recovered.

Sixteen people had initially been reported killed in two strikes on Thursday on the Gaza Strip's central Nuseirat refugee camp, but officials from the Al-Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in.

Overall, the hospital said they had received 21 dead bodies from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been brought the day before.

One of the strikes killed an 18-month-old and his 10-year-old sister — the children’s mother was missing as of Friday and the father was killed by an Israeli airstrike four months ago, the family told AP journalists at Aqsa hospital.

Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al-Balah on Friday killed four more, the hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25.

The Israeli military did not comment on the specific strikes but said it had killed armed militants in central and southern Gaza Thursday.

Israel’s blistering offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, say health officials inside Gaza. They say more than half of the dead are women and children.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that a total of 55 people had been killed in the past 24 hours and that another 196 had been wounded.



North Gaza ‘Apocalyptic,’ Everyone at ‘Imminent Risk’ of Death, Warns UN

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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North Gaza ‘Apocalyptic,’ Everyone at ‘Imminent Risk’ of Death, Warns UN

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

The situation in the northern Gaza Strip is "apocalyptic" as Israel pursues a military offensive against Hamas fighters in the area, top United Nations officials warned on Friday.

"The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence," they said in a statement signed by the heads of UN agencies, including the UN children's agency UNICEF and the World Food Program, and other aid groups.

Israel began a wide military push in northern Gaza earlier this month. The United States has said it was watching to ensure that its ally's actions on the ground show it does not have a "policy of starvation" in the north.

"Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need," they said.

They urged all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians and called on Israel to "ceases its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help."

Israel's UN mission in New York declined comment on the statement. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon last month told the Security Council that the issue in Gaza was not a lack of aid, saying more than a million tons had been delivered during the past year. He accused Hamas of hijacking the assistance.

Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that it was stealing aid and says Israel is to blame for shortages.

On Monday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke with Israel's ambassador to the United States on Friday as a deadline imposed by Washington looms for Israel to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.

Power and Herzog "discussed the need to get more aid to the Palestinian people," said USAID spokesperson Benjamin Suarato, adding: "Administrator Power raised serious concern on the humanitarian conditions in northern Gaza."

The United States told Israel in a letter on Oct. 13 that it must take steps within 30 days.