Deadly Israeli attack in Gaza amid anger over UN agency Middle East and Africa ban

Israel’s key ally and supporter, the United States, called the strike, which left many children dead, “horrific.”

The attack came as Israel faced an international backlash after its parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency working with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian rescuers and desperate family members gathered around a demolished five-story block in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

A charred body with long hair hung from an upstairs window, and bodies in blankets were lined up in the street as stunned relatives tried to identify their loved ones.

“The number of martyrs of the massacre at Abu Nasr’s family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93, with around 40 still missing under the rubble,” Gaza Civil Defense Agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

The Israeli military said it was “analyzing reports” of the attack. It previously reported that its forces killed 40 Hamas fighters and lost four soldiers in Gaza.

“Women and Children”

“The explosion took place at night and at first I thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise, I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and injured people out of the rubble,” said 30-year-old Rabie al-Shandagly.

“Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or adequate medical care,” he told AFP.

Washington expressed deep concern.

“This was a horrific incident with horrific consequences,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“We have contacted the Israeli government to ask what happened here.”

Since October 6, the Israeli army has carried out a widespread air and ground attack in the northern Gaza Strip – especially around Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun – claiming it is aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the area more than 12 months after the start of the war sparked by Hamas militants who launched a bloody cross-border attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 43,061 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Health Ministry data from the Hamas-controlled territory, which the United Nations considers reliable, prompting warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

International concerns have intensified after the Israeli parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Israel tightly controls all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, and UNRWA has provided essential aid, education and health care in the Palestinian territories and the diaspora for over seven decades.

“Destructive Effects”

“There is a deep connection between the terrorist organization (Hamas) and UNRWA and Israel cannot tolerate this,” MP Yuli Edelstein said in parliament when introducing the proposal.

However, several of Israel’s Western allies, including the United States, have expressed deep concern.

Miller again warned Israel that Washington could withhold military aid without improving humanitarian aid to Gaza.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was “seriously concerned” and the French Foreign Office said it “deeply regrets” the introduction of the law.

Germany, a staunch defender of Israel’s security, warned that this would “effectively prevent UNRWA’s work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the Israeli law could have “devastating consequences” if implemented.

In a letter he sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen by AFP, Guterres argued that under international law, the occupying power must implement mechanisms to help people living in the occupied territory.

“If Israel is unable to meet such needs, it has an obligation to enable and facilitate the activities of the United Nations,” Guterres wrote.

Israel’s neighbor Jordan, which also houses UNRWA offices, condemned the ban as “a continuation of Israel’s frantic efforts to politically assassinate the UN agency.”

Netanyahu said on social media that Israel was “ready” to continue providing aid to the Gaza Strip “in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security.”

Hezbollah appoints a new leader

During the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, including soldiers and civilians, 97 of whom are still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of them are dead.

According to official data from the Israeli agency AFP, 1,206 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack.

In Lebanon, Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of the village of Khiam, their deepest incursion in the history of the ground operation they launched last month against Hezbollah, state media reported.

Late Tuesday, the health ministry said at least eight people had been killed in an Israeli attack on Sarafand in southern Lebanon.

It also said six people were killed in an earlier attack on Haret Saida near the main southern city of Sidon.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced it has selected deputy chief Naim Qassem to replace Hassan Nasrallah as leader following his death in an Israeli attack on southern Beirut last month.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X that Qassem was a “temporary appointment” that would not last long. In a separate post in Hebrew, he added that “the countdown has begun.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s website said Qassem’s nomination would “strengthen the will of the resistance.”

Moreover, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said its headquarters in southern Lebanon was hit by a rocket fired “probably by Hezbollah or a Hezbollah-affiliated group.” Austria reported that eight soldiers were injured.

At least 1,750 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, when fighting intensified as Israel launched an air and ground offensive against Hezbollah, which has been carrying out rocket attacks in support of Hamas, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.