Israeli attacks kill 166 in 24 hours as fighting rages in northern Gaza

The Israeli attacks have killed over 166 in last 24 hours in Gaza as the fighting raged in northern part of the besieged enclave. 

The Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 20,424 people have been killed and over 54,036 injured by Israeli attacks in the besieged enclave since October 7.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on X it had evacuated several dead and wounded after a house was shelled in Deir al-Balah.

In southern Gaza, Palestinian mourners attended the burial of a family of four killed in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis.

“International law has collapsed… If Israel were in the Palestinians’ position, the world would not stand still and would act,” said Ramzy Aidy, a Gaza resident with a doctorate in law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that the war in Gaza was exacting a “very heavy price” as the toll of Israeli soldiers killed in fighting with Hamas mounted.

“This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza… The war is exacting a very heavy price… but we have no choice but to keep fighting,” he said in a statement, after the army announced that 14 soldiers had been killed in the Palestinian territory since Friday.

The Israeli army has indicated its forces were close to having operational control in north Gaza, after weeks of intense fighting.

Now, “we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza,” military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.

Troops were notably looking to Khan Yunis — the birthplace and powerbase of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza and the man Israel holds most responsible for the attack that sparked the war.

US officials have said they want and expect Israel soon to shift its military operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase during which there will be more targeted operations focused on the Hamas leadership and its infrastructure.

After days of wrangling to avert a threatened US veto, the UN Security Council on Friday passed a resolution urging steps to allow “safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access” to Gaza and “conditions for a sustainable cessation” of fighting.

The resolution was toned down from earlier drafts that called for an immediate end to 11 weeks of war and diluting Israeli control over aid deliveries, clearing the way for the vote in which the United States abstained.

The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire, contending it would allow the Islamist militant group to regroup and rearm.

It is pertinent to mention here that Israel declared war on Hamas after the group’s October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and saw around 240 hostages taken.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and free 138 hostages still held after scores were freed during a short-lived truce.