Deadly Israeli strike in Gaza amid anger over UN agency ban

Israeli air strike kills nearly 100 in Gaza, as Israel faces criticism and bans UN aid agency.

A single Israeli air strike on a residential block left nearly 100 dead on Tuesday (October 29, 2024), Gaza's civil defence agency said, as Israel faced criticism after its parliament voted to ban the key UN aid agency working in the Palestinian territory.

Palestinian rescuers and family members were scouring through the rubble of the demolished five-storey block in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza, near the Jabalia area where an Israeli operation is underway to root out remaining pockets of Hamas fighters.

A charred body with long hair hung out of an upper storey window and corpses wrapped in blankets were lined up in the street below, as stunned relatives sought to identify the dead.

"The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble," Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

The Israeli military said it was "looking into the reports" of the strike in Beit Lahia, having earlier reported that its ground and air forces had killed 40 Hamas fighters and lost four of its own soldiers in combat.

"The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble," said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, who had taken refuge in a nearby school in Beit Lahia.

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