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Israeli strike on Nuseirat kills 33, humanitarian situation dire

Israeli strike on Nuseirat kills 33 as aid agencies warn of hunger crisis
MENA
3 min read
13 December, 2024
Israel has continued to pound the Gaza Strip, which is suffering from a lack of aid entry amid a harsh winter and devastating sieges.
The Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least 33 people [Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images]

An Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday evening killed at least 33 people, as Gaza's humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate with a new evacuation order by the Israeli military.

Gaza's media office said the Israeli military was deliberately targeting civilians and "knew that this is a residential block with many apartment buildings housing dozens of civilians, women, and displaced people".

At least 50 people were also wounded in the strike, which also struck a postal facility in the camp, according to Reuters.

A person was killed in an Israeli airstrike north of the Nuseirat camp on Friday morning, with two more killed in shelling south of Gaza City, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In the Jabalia refugee camp, an Israeli drone shot and killed Dr Saeed Joda, north Gaza's sole orthopedic surgeon, while traveling to the al-Awda Hospital.

Amid continued airstrikes, new evacuation orders on Gaza City have forcibly displaced between 20 to 25,000 people, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said.

The Patient's Friends Benevolent Society Hospital (PFBS) and Public Aid Hospital were affected, but MAP said their staff operating in the PFBS don't plan to evacuate.

The NGO said that the PFBS is operating one of two remaining neonatal intensive care units in north Gaza and is the only department that can receive premature babies. 

"The lives of these children and babies would be put at immediate risk if the hospital was forced to evacuate," MAP said.

Mohamed Awad, MAP's Deputy Gaza Director based in al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, warned that people in south Gaza are struggling to survive amid the dire humanitarian situation this winter and a huge hike in inflation.

"It has been shocking to come to Gaza and see firsthand just how unaffordable everything is. The prices of food here are crazy," he said, adding that people relying on canned food have to face high market prices without aid deliveries.

"The number of trucks allowed in daily is just a fraction of what we need. The starvation is really sickening, it is horrific and palpable here, it is the key issue facing people here in the south."

On Thursday, the UN voted in favour of the 'demand for ceasefire in Gaza' resolution, with 158 states voting in favour, and nine voting against, while 13 states abstained.

The resolution demands that all parties "fully comply with international law", and affirmed support for the UN's Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) whose work has been outlawed by the Israeli Knesset.

The UN General Assembly warned against any dismantling of UNRWA and called on Israel to respect the agency's work as a key humanitarian provider in the enclave.

Israel's war on Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023, has killed 44,835 people and wounded a further 106,356 others.