Israeli attack on Gaza shelter kills 15 members of one Palestinian family, including nine children

 

al Jazeera:

Israeli attack on Gaza shelter kills 15 members of one Palestinian family

Israeli strikes ‘wiping out whole families’ after attack on warehouse sheltering displaced Palestinians in az-Zawayda in central Gaza.

Palestinians stand at the site of an Israeli air strike on a shelter housing displaced people in central Gaza [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

Published On 17 Aug 202417 Aug 2024

The Israeli military bombed a warehouse sheltering displaced Palestinians in the az-Zawayda area of central Gaza, killing 15 members of one family, including nine children.

The civil defence spokesman in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, said on Saturday that 15 people killed in the overnight attack were members of the Ajlah family, with three women among the dead. The total death toll from the attack was 16.

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Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said three Israeli missiles hit the warehouse, located a few kilometres south of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

“A massive fire broke out, burning everything in the warehouse as children were torn to pieces. Rescue efforts are still continuing to try to recover more bodies,” he said.

“There is a great level of frustration and grief. The bodies are now being lined up at Al-Aqsa Hospital’s morgue as the family gets ready to bury them.”

The attack took place after international mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – wrapped up ceasefire negotiations in Doha on Friday that they described as “serious and constructive”, aimed at ending the war and seeing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza for Palestinians jailed in Israel.

“What have they done to deserve this?” Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul, a local who witnessed Israel’s latest assault told the AFP news agency.

Al Jazeera’s Abu Azzoum reported more air attacks mainly on residential houses in enclave, with one of them killing at least seven Palestinians from the same family on the western side of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

“We are observing that the latest Israeli strikes have been wiping out whole families,” he said.