Two Massacres in under 24 Hours – Israeli Airstrikes Kill at least 73 in Beit Lahia

Israel committed a horrific massacre in Beit Lahia. (Photo: Anas al-Sharif, via social media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The latest attack comes on the 15th day of a military seige on north Gaza with access to food, water, medicine and other vital humanitarian aid completely blocked by the Israeli military, in addition to a total communications blackout.

At least 73 Palestinians have been killed and scores injured after multiple Israeli airstrikes targeted densely populated residential areas in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia.

The death toll in this latest massacre by Israel on Saturday night was expected to rise, with scores still missing, trapped under the rubble, Gaza’s Government Media Office said.

It is the second massacre in less than 24 hours as Israel killed 33 Palestinians, including 21 women, in an air strike on the Jabaliya camp on Saturday morning, Al-Jazeera reported.

The first images of the horrific massacre against innocent civilians: Israeli occupation aircraft completely destroyed a residential block using fire belts, targeting the homes of the Al Sharif, Hindi, Al Kalkhout, Dreewi, and Obeid families. The airstrikes resulted in the total… pic.twitter.com/I6i9HP5OiD

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) October 19, 2024

Civil Defense spokesman in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, said the Israeli military “targeted with a belt of fire a residential square in the Beit Lahia project, resulting in 73 martyrs with dozens wounded and missing.”

He stressed that Israel was deliberately destroying homes and infrastructure to displace the Palestinians, the Al-Jazeera report said.

Basal also pointed out that Israel has declared Jabaliya a military zone, targeting any person on the streets, even ambulances.

Israeli forces have besieged Jabaliya camp, and anyone who wants to go out to secure food is killed, he said.

Food, Water Cut Off

The Media Office said the “latest massacre coincides with the destruction of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip, which is home to approximately 400,000 people.”

PALESTINIAN MEDIA:  At least 73 people were killed, in addition to scores of wounded and missing, in raids on homes in the Beit Lahia project area, north of the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/8LPpRLxfaL

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2024

It comes on the 15th day of a military siege on north Gaza with access to food, water, medicine and other vital humanitarian aid blocked by the Israeli military, in addition to a total communications blackout.

“The occupation has threatened hospitals, demanding that medical staff evacuate immediately. It is also preventing fuel from reaching these hospitals, while cutting off communications and the internet in the area, creating a deep humanitarian crisis,” the Media Office said.

Indonesian Hospital Targeted

Earlier, Al-Jazeera reported the deaths of two patients from the intensive care unit at the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza after Israeli forces destroyed the hospital’s electricity generator. Medical sources also reported that 21 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on different parts of the Strip since Saturday morning.

Breaking | Local sources at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza report that multiple civilians wounded in the massacre have succumbed to their injuries due to a depletion of medical resources and fuel. pic.twitter.com/U74y1IiutY

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 19, 2024

Munir Al-Barash, the Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, confirmed the deaths of two patients in the intensive care unit at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia after Israeli forces besieged the hospital and destroyed its electricity generator, which was crucial during the power outage.

The Director General of the Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, said that the Beit Lahia massacre falls within the displacement plan of north Gaza implemented by the occupation forces. He said Israel has committed more than 3,000 massacres, killing more than 17,000 children since October 7 last year.

‘Stop This Holocaust’ – Hamas

Hamas has condemned the latest “horrific massacre” in Beit Lahia saying Israel was “racing against time with its massacres and atrocities that it commits around the clock against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

In an Israeli occupation bombing there have been 73 martyrs confirmed with dozens more wounded after they targeted residential blocks in Beit Lahia, Northern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/RJP1EVNCeO

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) October 19, 2024

“The Arab silence and international impotence have encouraged this fascist criminal enemy to commit further crimes and massacres in its attempt to empty the northern part of the Gaza Strip of its residents,” the movement said in a statement.

Hamas called on Arab and Islamic countries, the United Nations, “and all relevant international entities to take effective action to stop this holocaust being perpetrated by the new Nazis, which will have significant repercussions on the security and peace of the region.”

UN Resolution Defied

Israel continues to defy a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

Trapped in Northern Gaza – Hospitals Besieged, Civilians Executed in Israeli Bombing Onslaught

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,500 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 99,546 wounded.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, AJA)