Red Cross: 22 killed in difficult and brutal day
Published on: Sunday, June 23, 2024
By: AFP
The sun rises over destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 37,551 people have been killed in the territory.
GAZA: The Israeli army on Saturday continued to pound Gaza, after the International Committee of the Red Cross said 22 people were killed in shelling that damaged its office in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border between Israel and the powerful Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have also escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an even wider war.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the cross-border hostilities must not turn Lebanon into “another Gaza”, warning of the risk of triggering a catastrophe “beyond imagination”.
His warning came as Israel stepped up its strikes in the Gaza Strip, where one hospital in Gaza City reported at least 30 dead on Friday.
Fighting continued Saturday morning, with witnesses reporting gun battles between militants and Israeli forces in Gaza City.
And in the city’s Zeitun neighbourhood, Israeli helicopters fired at militants, witnesses said.
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The Israeli military meanwhile said troops continued to carry out operations in central Gaza “eliminating several armed terrorists and dismantling terrorist infrastructure in the area”.
“Fighter jets and additional aircraft struck numerous terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including armed terrorists, weapons storage facilities, and additional terrorist infrastructure,” it added.
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In southern Gaza, the ICRC on Friday said 22 dead and 45 wounded people were taken to a Red Cross field hospital after shelling with “heavy calibre projectiles” near its Gaza office.
“Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures puts the lives of civilians and humanitarians at risk,” the ICRC said on X.
“It has been a difficult and brutal day in Gaza City. So far, around 30 martyrs have arrived at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital,” doctor Fadel Naeem was quoted as saying.
Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Basal said five municipal workers died when a garage in the city was bombed.
Experts are divided on the prospect of a wider war, almost nine months into Israel’s campaign to eradicate Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Citing the “bellicose rhetoric” on both sides, UN chief Guterres warned Friday that the risk of all-out war was real.
“One rash move—one miscalculation—could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” he said.
Israel’s ally the United States has appealed for de-escalation.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 37,551 people have been killed in the territory.
The toll includes at least 120 deaths over the past 48 hours, a ministry statement said, adding 85,911 had been wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Hisham Salem in Jabalia camp told AFP: “The markets... used to be full, but now there is nothing left. I go around the entire market and I can’t find a kilo of onions, and if I do... it costs 140 shekels ($37).”
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