The Devastating Aftermath of Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza
The Haunting Toll of the Airstrikes
The recent Israeli airstrikes in southern and central Gaza have left a devastating impact, with more than 60 Palestinians killed, including in an Israeli-declared "safe zone" crowded with thousands of displaced people. The strikes have brought a constant drumbeat of deaths, even as Israel has pulled back or scaled down major ground offensives in the region.
According to the reports, the deadliest strike hit a main street lined with market stalls outside the southern city of Khan Younis in Muwasi, a coastal region that's part of the designated "safe zone" where the Israeli military has instructed Palestinians to take refuge. Officials at Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital reported that 17 people were killed in this targeted attack.
The airstrikes have come as Israel and Hamas continue to weigh the latest cease-fire proposal, with Hamas insisting that talks to wind down the nine-month-long war would continue even after Israel's targeting of a top Hamas military commander. International mediators are working to push both sides toward a deal that would halt the fighting and free the roughly 120 hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.
The ongoing conflict has already taken a devastating toll, with the war in Gaza killing more than 38,600 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territory, displacing most of its 2.3 million population and triggering widespread hunger.
Destruction in the "Safe Zone"
The most recent airstrikes have hit areas that were designated as "safe zones" by the Israeli military, where thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought refuge. The strike in Muwasi, at the heart of this coastal safe zone packed with tent camps, highlights the grim reality that no place in Gaza is truly safe from the violence.
In addition to the Muwasi attack, other strikes have hit the Nuseirat and Zawaida refugee camps in central Gaza, killing at least 24 people, including 10 women and 4 children, according to officials at the nearby Al Aqsa hospital. Footage from the scene showed the school's yard covered in rubble and twisted metal from a structure that was hit, with workers carrying bodies wrapped in blankets as women and children watched from the classrooms where they had been sheltering.
The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas militants were operating from the school to plan attacks, though this could not be independently confirmed. Other strikes in Khan Younis and Rafah killed an additional 12 people, according to medical officials and journalists on the ground.
The targeting of these purported "safe zones" raises grave concerns about the protection of civilians in the ongoing conflict. The strikes demonstrate the grim reality that no part of Gaza is spared from the violence, even areas designated as havens for those fleeing the fighting.
