Israel said its air force had struck “approximately 175 terrorist targets” in Gaza and Lebanon over the past day.
The Hamas-run government press office said Saturday night’s bombing in Beit Lahia hit a “crowded” residential area and killed 73 people. The Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency in Gaza also reported these figures. The BBC cannot independently confirm the figures.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the entire residential complex was destroyed in this airstrike.
Gaza health officials added that rescue efforts in Beit Lahia are currently hampered by a disruption in telecommunications and internet services in the area.
The strike came just hours after reports of mass shooting by Israeli forces at an Indonesian hospital in the city.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC it had struck “Hamas terror targets” and was “taking all possible measures to avoid harm to civilians.”
It said the casualty figures provided by the Hamas office were ‘exaggerated’ and that these sources had ‘proven to be highly unreliable in previous incidents’.
Israel launched a new military offensive in northern Gaza in early October, saying it was trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.
In particular, Israeli forces surrounded and bombed the densely populated Jabalia area, which includes the city’s refugee camps, with at least 33 people reportedly killed in airstrikes late on Friday.
Humanitarian groups have warned that virtually no aid has arrived in the region for weeks. Israel’s own statistics show that aid deliveries to the entire Gaza Strip have fallen sharply compared to the same period in September.
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official, Joyce Msuya, said Saturday that Palestinians in northern Gaza are experiencing “unspeakable horror” and called for an end to these “atrocities.”
Israel has repeatedly denied it is blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, but the United States has said it must increase access or risk cutting off some U.S. military aid.
