Israeli strike kills dozens in north Gaza residential block, US calls incident 'horrifying'

At least 93 Palestinians were killed or missing and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday, the Gaza health ministry said, and the U.S. called the incident “horrifying”.

Medics said at least 20 children were among the dead.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them,” the territory’s health ministry said in a statement.

Later on Tuesday, Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, put the number of fatalities at 93.

There was no immediate Israeli comment. The Israeli military has frequently questioned figures on death toll published by the Hamas-run media office, saying they were often exaggerated.

Israel’s main ally the United States said it was concerned by the high casualty toll, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calling it a “horrifying incident with a horrifying result”.

U.S. officials have reached out to the Israeli government to ask what happened, Miller told reporters, adding he was aware of reports that many of the dead were children.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said it was “appalled” by one of the deadliest single attacks in nearly three months, calling for a prompt, transparent investigation into the circumstances.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed several bodies wrapped in blankets on the ground outside a bombed four-storey building. More bodies and survivors were being retrieved from under the wreckage as neighbours rushed to help with rescue.

“There are tens of martyrs (dead) – tens of displaced people were living in this house. The house was bombed without prior warning. As you can see, martyrs are here and there, with body parts hanging on the walls,” Ismail Ouaida, a witness who was helping to recover bodies, said in the video.

Later on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, several people were killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit three houses in Beit Lahiya.