Another night of deadly Israeli air strikes in central, southern Gaza
There have been more aggressive air raids across the Gaza Strip, mainly concentrated in the central area, particularly on Deir el-Balah.
In the eastern part of the city, an air strike targeted a home where a family was sheltering, killing at least one person. Wounded family members were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital, arriving at an overwhelmed, exhausted health facility.
In Maghazi refugee camp, an air strike killed the mayor. Several other Palestinians were injured.
Here in Rafah city, quadcopters keep shooting in the eastern part of the city, killing one person in his late 50s and wounding several others.
Meanwhile, in the city of Khan Younis, tragedy keeps unfolding after the Israeli military’s withdrawal. More bodies are being removed from under the rubble, some fully decomposed after being there three or four months. About 80 bodies have been recovered so far. The level of destruction in the eastern part of the city has made it unrecognisable, according to people who have checked on what remains of their homes.
Doctors inspect damage at Nasser Hospital
Al-Shifa Hospital ‘completely non-functional’ following siege, reports UN-led mission
The Al-Shifa Hospital has been left “completely non-functional” following a deadly, weeks-long Israeli siege, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported in its latest update on Gaza.
OCHA reported that a WHO-led mission accessed the hospital in northern Gaza on April 5, following heavy fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian groups at the medical facility between March 18 and April 1.
It concluded that “substantial efforts” were needed to clear unexploded ordnance in Al-Shifa and to “assess the potential for making the facility safe and accessible” again. It added that northern Gaza has been left without any CT scanning capabilities, significantly reduced laboratory capacity and with only one source for medical oxygen production following the hospital’s destruction.
About 55% of Khan Younis structures destroyed or damaged: Analysts
An estimated 55 percent of the buildings in the Khan Younis area – about 45,000 buildings – have been destroyed or damaged, according to Corey Scher of the City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, two mapping experts who used satellite imagery to track destruction.
The scenes in Khan Younis underscored what has been one of the world’s most destructive and lethal military assaults in recent decades, leaving most of the tiny coastal territory unlivable for its 2.3 million people.
It also portended what is likely to happen in Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah, where half of Gaza’s uprooted population is now crowded, if Israel goes ahead with plans to invade it.
Dozens of casualties in northern Gaza after Israeli bombing
Israeli warplanes bombed two homes in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, causing dozens of casualties, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. A drone strike on Salah al-Din Street to the east of the city, meanwhile, killed at least one person and injured others, Wafa reports.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli artillery shelling struck the neighbourhoods of Shujayea, Sabra, Tal al-Hawa, and Sheikh Ijlin, said Wafa, without providing casualty figures.
After a couple days of fewer reported deaths, the count is up again
153 killed, 60 injured in Gaza in last 24 hours: Health Ministry
The casualties bring the total number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 to 33,360, with 75,993 wounded, according to the ministry. At least 7,000 additional people are missing, presumed buried under the debris after six months of Israeli bombing. The death toll includes more than 14,500 children and 9,560 women.
