Over 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as death toll crosses 53,000

By Linda Bordoni

The strikes in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia refugee camps came without any warning to allow the families inside to leave these areas in search of a safe place.

Witnesses in Jabalia say they continue to hear cries from under the rubble without being able to rescue those people, and wounded civilians are reportedly receiving treatment on the floor in Gaza’s barely functional hospital.

The widespread attacks come as US President Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states, but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that his regional trip could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where an Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.

Speaking to reporters at a business forum in Abu Dhabi on the final day of his trip, Trump said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza.

Israel said it was continuing its operations against militants in Gaza and that it struck 150 targets in the past day.

The strikes follow days of similar attacks that killed more than 130 people and wounded hundreds. An Israeli official described them as “preparatory actions” in the lead-up to a larger operation, and to send a message to Hamas that it will begin soon if there isn’t an agreement to release hostages.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people on a 7 October 2023 incursion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, while an Israeli-imposed blockade is preventing food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering the enclave, causing famine and worsening a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

(Source AP and other agencies)