Israeli forces ‘systematically targeting families’
After midnight, Israeli forces targeted a warehouse where a displaced Palestinian family was staying. At least 16 Palestinians from the same family were killed, and some of those who were injured were transferred here to Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Displaced families had evacuated to az-Zawayda because it’s one of the “safe zones” as claimed by the Israeli forces.
Now, in the past couple of days, the Israeli forces have been systematically targeting families and wiping them off the civil registry. Those families now do not have any members alive any more.
The people in az-Zawayda do not have any other place to go to. They are there because they believe that there’s no place they can go, and wherever they do go, they will still be targeted.
Over a dozen members of a single family killed in az-Zawayda strike
Abdalhadi al-Ejlah, a Palestinian who lost 15 members of his family in the strike on az-Zawayda in the Gaza Strip, spoke to Al Jazeera from Stockholm, Sweden.
He described his 45-year-old brother Sami, who died in the strike, as “an honourable man” who had built up a frozen meat business and was engaged in charitable causes, leading to him being known as “the father of the poor”.
He described his family as “normal” and like all Palestinians in Gaza simply being “subjected to this genocide”. Sami was “murdered along with all of his kids”, he said, with the exception of one who is currently in intensive care.
He said his family had been displaced and sought shelter in az-Zawayda, but the constant bombardment in the enclave had left the children terrified.
Al-Ejlah said his six-year-old niece would ask him, “When is it our turn?” referring to when she and her family would be killed.
That question reflects “exactly the thoughts of the children in Gaza”, he said.
Baby rescued from residential building in the Gaza Strip after Israeli attack
Palestinian Civil Defence teams in the Gaza Strip have rescued a baby from a residential building that was engulfed in flames after an Israeli attack earlier today.
In a video published on social media, the baby can be seen being lowered from the top of an apartment building by what appears to be rope as smoke billows from the lower floors.
Displaced Palestinians flee Maghazi refugee camp after evacuation orders
Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Maghazi refugee camp following an Israeli evacuation order
Israeli shelling hits southern Gaza
Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows thick plumes of smoke rising as a result of heavy Israeli shelling on Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis.
Deaths, injuries in Israeli attack on central Gaza
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that several people have been killed and wounded in Israeli shelling targeting a home in the al-Hakr area, south of Deir el-Balah.
We are also getting reports that an Israeli air raid targeted a residential tower in Nuseirat.
‘What’s left for children here?’
UNRWA spokesperson Louise Wateridge says in a post on X that areas in north Gaza are dotted with flattened homes, sharing a video showing widespread destruction.
“I was next to a young boy as a strike whistled above us. He froze, eyes wide open. It hit nearby and he just stood there, paralysed by fear. “What’s left for children here? Constant displacement, among constant unimaginable horror.”
Today in north #Gaza, home after home flattened.
I was next to a young boy as a strike whistled above us. He froze, eyes wide open. It hit nearby & he just stood there, paralysed by fear.
What’s left for children here? Constant displacement, among constant unimaginable horror. pic.twitter.com/bQvS4uLfOv
— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) August 17, 2024
