Deadliest overnight attack on Gaza kills 11, including 5 children
Overnight, the Israeli military carried out wide-ranging attacks across Gaza but one of the bloodiest was on southern Rafah where at least 11 Palestinians were killed, including five children.
We have also recorded more air strikes in the al-Mughraqa and Deir el-Balah areas. These two towns have witnessed mass demolitions by the Israeli military with many neighbourhoods completely destroyed.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, withdrew from the Nuseirat refugee camp, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Civil defence crews are working to recover victims buried in the debris.
Local news reports say the Israeli military has deployed more tanks and armoured vehicles near border areas with Rafah, in preparation for a potential ground invasion of the densely populated area with about 1.5 million people sheltering there.
WFP says food convoys crossed into northern Gaza this week
The UN’s food agency has said three convoys with food and wheat flour for nearly 80,000 people this week crossed into northern Gaza from the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing with Israel for the first time.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said 392 trucks carrying food have entered the besieged territory this month so far, the same rate as in March but half that in January.
“The only way to halt famine is through regular and sustained access and a humanitarian ceasefire,” it said.
80,000 out of 550,000 in the North, 15% gets something to eat.
Gaza civil defence workers pull bodies from Nuseirat destruction
Emergency services continue to scour collapsed buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp for bodies in central Gaza after Israeli forces withdrew after a days-long incursion.
According to Gaza’s government media office, 75 people were killed, 348 were injured and 100 others went missing during the Israeli operation, in addition to the destruction of 13,000 housing units in the camp.
The civil defence agency said heavy machinery is needed to extract bodies from the debris of destroyed buildings.
“Several victims were retrieved by civil defence teams, while many others are still under the rubble,” the agency said in a statement.
Search operations continue in the largely destroyed Nuseirat refugee camp near Deir el-Balah
The destruction of the Nuseirat refugee camp
Palestinians try to recover any usable items from the rubble of the wrecked structures while emergency services continue to scour for bodies. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, 75 people were killed, 348 were wounded and 100 others went missing during the Israeli incursion in Nuseirat.
Video shows Palestinian man forced to strip by Israeli soldiers
Two-thirds of homes destroyed in Gaza: UNICEF
“You see rubble. And I see it as far as my eye can see. But a family sees what was their home,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in a video posted on X while walking through devastated infrastructure in Gaza.
Globally, the wish of parents is to give their children a better home, a dream that has turned into a “nightmare” in the besieged strip, Elder said.
“How do these people start again?” he asks in the video.
Approximately 2 in 3 homes in #Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
HOMES.
People's Homes. pic.twitter.com/zCEWR5pDzB
— James Elder (@1james_elder) April 18, 2024
UNRWA ‘exists because a political solution does not’
The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees accused the international community of “containing” rather than resolving the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Philippe Lazzarini said when a Palestinian state that can deliver education, healthcare and social support is established, UNRWA’s role will be finished. His comments came amid a concerted effort by Israel to disband UNRWA.
“The agency exists because a political solution does not,” said Lazzarini.
Israel got no support for getting rid of UNRWA at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday. All 15 council members – including the United States, Israel’s closest ally – voiced support for the agency along with Arab and European representatives.
Palestine’s UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, told reporters after the meeting: “Wasn’t today’s debate impressive? Everyone except one [backed UNRWA].”
