At least 93 people have been reported killed following an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya, a town in northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s government media office.
The health ministry in Gaza initially reported 60 fatalities from the strike on a residential building housing displaced civilians earlier in the day, but the toll has since risen.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director-general of Gaza’s media office, told Al Jazeera that approximately 200 people were sheltering in the building at the time of the attack. Dozens remain missing, and more than 150 people are injured. Medics have reported that 20 children are among the dead.
Many of the wounded were transported to Kamal Adwan Hospital inside the Jabalia refugee camp, but medical staff are struggling with shortages of supplies and personnel. According to reports, the hospital now has only two pediatric doctors and no surgeons. The hospital’s director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces detained several medical staff earlier in the week, leaving the facility unable to perform critical surgeries.
Meanwhile, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris has condemned Israel’s recent legislation effectively banning the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In a statement, Harris criticized the Israeli Knesset’s decision, saying it could prevent UNRWA from fulfilling its humanitarian mission.
“If implemented, it will make it impossible for UNRWA to carry out its vital role across the region,” Harris said, noting that a halt to the agency’s activities would result in increased loss of life. Harris also called on António Costa, the incoming president of the European Council, who is visiting Dublin, to “use all levers” available to push for action on the crisis in the Middle East.
