‘Nightmare intensifies’: UN as latest Israeli attacks in Gaza kill more than 100 people | World news

Nearly 108 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in northern Gaza over the past two weeks as Israel stepped up air and ground strikes in the besieged strip against alleged regroupment efforts by Hamas militants.

Doctors involved in rescue operations warned of “catastrophic consequences”. Raheem Khedar, a local doctor, said many parents and children were among the dead after a strike razed a multi-storey building and at least four neighboring houses. An attack on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed more than six people, including a child.

Mounir al-Bursh, director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, reported on

Doctors Without Borders urged Israeli forces to “immediately stop” the attack on hospitals in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli soldiers had fired on two hospitals during the renewed offensive.

The Israeli military denied the claim, saying it operated near one hospital but that soldiers did not fire directly at it. Across northern Gaza, the Israeli army said it used precision ammunition against a Hamas target. It also called the area an active war zone and said it was trying to prevent civilians from being harmed.

The Israeli operation in Jabaliya in northern Gaza has entered the third week of the latest round of offensives. It ordered the entire population of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate south in the first weeks of the war and reiterated those instructions this month. It is believed that about 400,000 people remain in northern Gaza.

UN warns of ‘nightmare’

The United Nations (UN) said “horrific” scenes were unfolding in Gaza and renewed its call for an end to the war. The global body also called for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Palestinians in Gaza.

“The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Gruesome scenes are unfolding in the northern Gaza Strip, amid conflict, brutal Israeli attacks and a worsening humanitarian crisis. Nowhere is safe in Gaza,” said Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

The official said the path to peace will require courage and political will from all sides, as well as renewed diplomacy to end the war. “We owe it to the families suffering in Gaza and Israel. The war must stop now,” Wennesland added.

(With input from AP)