Israel bombs Gaza aid sites, cafe and school, killing 95 Palestinians

Israeli forces have bombed a cafe, a school and food distribution sites in Gaza, killing at least 95 Palestinians, and attacked a hospital, wounding several more people. At least 62 of the victims of Monday’s attacks were in Gaza City and the north of the territory. The figure includes 39 people who were killed in an Israeli strike on a seaside cafe, Al-Baqa cafeteria, in northern Gaza City. Dozens more were wounded. Among the dead was journalist Ismail Abu Hatab, as well as women and children who had gathered at the cafe.

One witness said that Israeli fighter jets carried out the strike. “We found people torn apart,” said Yahya Sharif. “This place wasn’t affiliated with anyone – no politics and no military association whatsoever. It was packed with people including children for a birthday party.”

The bombing flattened the cafe and left a huge crater in the ground. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the attack on the cafe occurred “without any warning”.

“This area serves as a refuge for many traumatised and displaced people, offering some relief from the oppressive heat of the tents. The bloodstains are still everywhere given the intensity of the explosion. Some of the bodies and pieces of flesh were collected from the flood of this place,” he added.

Also on Monday, Israeli forces carried out an air strike on a food distribution warehouse in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing at least 13 people who were trying to get rations. Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. The Israeli military also bombed the Yafa school in Gaza City, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians.

Hamada Abu Jaradeh, who fled before the attack, said that displaced Palestinians received a five-minute threat to evacuate. “We don’t know what to do and where to go. We have been let down by the entire world for more than 630 days. Death is with us and around us every day,” Abu Jaradeh said.

In central Gaza, Israeli forces attacked the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where thousands of families had sought shelter. Videos circulating online and verified by Al Jazeera showed chaos at the hospital, with people fleeing for safety as tents sheltering displaced families appeared damaged by the attack.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from the scene of the hospital attack, said the army did not issue “any warnings” before the “huge explosion”.

“The site of the attack is about 10 metres [33 ft] from our broadcast point. This is not the first time the hospital’s courtyard has been attacked. At least 10 times, this facility has been squarely targeted by Israeli forces,” Abu Azzoum said. “It’s a staggering concentration of attacks on medical facilities, adding further burden on barely functioning hospitals.”

In a statement, Gaza’s Government Media Office decried the attack by Israel, calling it a “systematic crime” against the Palestinian enclave’s health system.

“Its warplanes bombed a tent for the displaced inside the walls of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, resulting in injuries at the site of the bombing, material damage and directly threatening the lives of dozens of patients,” it said.

Israel has repeatedly targeted dozens of hospitals during its 22-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying the enclave’s healthcare system.

‘It felt like earthquakes’

In southern Gaza, an Israel air attack killed at least 15 Palestinians waiting for food at aid distribution hubs run by the controversial United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Khan Younis, according to sources at Nasser Medical Complex.

Fifty people were also wounded in the attack.

They are the latest victims in a wave of daily carnage at these sites, which have killed nearly 600 Palestinians since GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a crippling Israeli blockade.

The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians were harmed at the aid distribution centres, saying that instructions had been issued to forces following “lessons learned”, and that firing incidents were under review.

  • Related Posts

    Month after June 30 Disaster: Behind Mandi’s monsoon mayhem connect, experts see man-made factors

    A mother-son duo was among three people killed in flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall, which also buried more than 20 vehicles under sludge and debris, inundated several buildings and…

    India–US trade deal: Trump wants call with PM Modi before final approval

    U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before giving the final nod to the long-anticipated India-U.S. trade agreement, sources familiar with the…