Gaza death toll hits 34,183 during Israeli attack
The number of people killed in Israel’s war on Gaza reached 34,183, the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says. The death toll includes 32 people killed in the past 24 hours. Another 77,143 have been wounded in the six months of the war. More than 14,500 children and 9,500 women are among the dead, Gaza authorities say.
The death toll is likely far higher, with thousands of bodies believed buried in buildings destroyed in Israeli military strikes.
Homes targeted, destroyed in Gaza City as incessant strikes continue
There is no sign of Israel’s military action slowing down. There are relentless air strikes and aggressive operations on the ground, including in the northern, central, and overcrowded southern parts of the Gaza Strip.
In central areas, refugee camps have been attacked for the past 48 hours including Nuseirat, Bureij, and Maghazi, as well as parts of Deir el-Balah – a city where people were told to evacuate to.
In northern Gaza City, the eastern neighbourhoods of Shujayea and Zeitoun have been pounded by land and air. The reports we’re getting say all residential buildings still standing were targeted and destroyed – in what looks like a demolition operation.
Meanwhile, there are reports of clashes between armed groups and the Israeli military on the ground in Gaza City, despite the Israeli military’s repeated statements that it completed operations and those areas are cleared of Palestinian resistance.
Air attack kills one in Beit Lahia: Report
Israeli warplanes hit a group of people near a playground in northern Gaza City, killing one and injuring others, reports Wafa quoting medical sources.
Israeli warplanes also hit other areas of northern Gaza, including neighbourhoods across Gaza City.
Rescuers treat wounded children in Bureij camp
Footage posted by the Palestine Red Crescent Society shows its medics providing medical care to wounded children at Bureij refugee camp following our earlier reports of attacks on the site in central Gaza.
The medics are seen bandaging three children with head wounds and transporting them to a hospital for further treatment.
🚨The Palestine Red Crescent teams transported three injured individuals following an attack on a mosque in Al-Bureij, located in the central area of the #Gaza Strip.
📷Filmed by PRCS volunteer: Musa al-Qattawi pic.twitter.com/XETyRph8R4
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 23, 2024
Israel effectively using Gaza hospital as military base
Israeli troops have turned Gaza’s only specialised cancer hospital into a de facto military base, stationing dozens of armoured vehicles at the facility and building earthen fortifications to shield them, according to satellite imagery analysed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency.
The Israeli army first moved its vehicles into the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, located south of Gaza City, on November 23, according to the analysis. Since then, Israeli forces have built a dedicated supply road from the facility to the Netzarim corridor, an east-west military road that Israel uses to split Gaza City from the rest of the enclave.
As of April 16, Israel’s military had brought 55 vehicles at the area, the analysis found.
