Riyaz Patel
An Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip has left about 32 Palestinians dead within two days.
Some 71 others, including 30 children, have been wounded.
Israel unleashed an air campaign on Gaza after its security forces assassinated senior Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu al-Ata and his wife Tuesday morning.
The armed group responded by launching salvoes of rockets into Israel, vowing to keep up its attacks.
Six people were killed in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah during a pre-dawn strike Thursday, including a woman and a child, Reuters reported citing local medics.
In eastern Gaza on Wednesday, Ayyad, a 54-year-old farmer, and Amir, 8, were returning home from the farm on a motorcycle when they stopped to greet Islam, 25. Moments later, an air strike killed the Ayyad family members in front of their house in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood.
The bodies of other Palestinian victims were brought to Gaza City’s Shifa hospital in taxis and ambulances, witnesses said.
Relatives gathered outside the Quds and Shifa hospitals and many could be seen weeping and screaming.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, said the ministry had raised its level of preparedness in the emergency and intensive-care units since the start of the Israeli military operation in Gaza.
“Our medical staff have dealt with difficult cases, including severe burns, complex fractures and deep wounds,” he said.
Qudra accused the Israeli military of using excessive force in its attacks, citing the charred and torn bodies of several victims.
Medics and witnesses said most of the victims have been civilians who lived in densely populated neighbourhoods.
Palestinians in Gaza have suffered through three wars between 2008 and 2014.
Israel’s massive military air campaign on Gaza in 2014 killed at least 2,220 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the United Nations, and residents are still reeling from the extensive destruction Israel inflicted throughout the besieged territory.
Last month, DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor bluntly told her fellow UN Security Council members that the failure to find a resolution to the “plight of the people of Palestine and to secure their peace and freedom is a profound stain” on the stated mission of the UN as articulated in the founding charter of the world body.
The Joint Operation Room, a coordination unit between the military wings of various Palestinian factions, said in a statement Wednesday that it would continue firing rockets on Israeli targets in retaliation for Abu al-Atta’s assassination.
It’s understood that Palestinian factions want international supervision over any possible deal between them and Israel.
The Israeli military on Wednesday reinforced its forces along the Gaza separation fence, according to Israeli media reports.
Hundreds of reserve soldiers were called up, including members of the Iron Dome missile defence units, military intelligence and the Home Front Command.
