“LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE”
On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Wednesday 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes, at least six of them children.
“The explosion was massive, like an earthquake,” said Zuhair Judeh, 40, who witnessed one of the strikes, which prompted frantic scenes as people scrabbled in the rubble for survivors.
“The bodies and remains of the martyrs were scattered,” he added, calling it “a horrific massacre”.
In response to an AFP request for comment on a strike on the Al-Shati camp near Gaza City, the Israeli military said it “struck a number of Hamas terrorists”.
Due to restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties accessing the area, AFP is unable to independently verify the death tolls and details shared by the parties involved.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,680 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
