29 October 2024 Beit Lahia airstrike | |
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Part of the siege of North Gaza during the Israel–Hamas war | |
Location | Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip, Palestine |
Date | 29 October 2024 6:30 a.m. (PSST) |
Attack type | Airstrike |
Deaths | 55–93+ |
Injured | Dozens |
Perpetrator | Israel Defense Forces |
On 29 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on a five-story residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 55 to 93 Palestinians, including 25 children, and leaving 40 others missing. [1] [2] [3]
The IDF, which had been conducting operations in northern Gaza, said that its attacks were aimed at preventing Hamas forces from regrouping. The IDF also accused Hamas of placing themselves among the civilian population, which Hamas denied. [4]
The airstrike occurred at 6:30 a.m. local time. [5] The building was being used to shelter displaced Palestinians. Ismail al-Thawabta, the director-general of Gaza's government Media Office, said that 200 people were inside the building when the attack occurred. [1]
The airstrike caused the building to collapse. [6] According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 93 people were confirmed killed in the strike, including 25 children, and dozens of others were injured. They also stated that more than half of those killed in the attack were women and children. [7] The Palestinian Civil Defence said that at least 55 people were killed. [3] Forty other people were reported missing. [2]
An IDF official said the strike was conducted after Israeli soldiers noticed a "spotter" on the building's roof. The official added that the strike had not been planned and that Israeli soldiers were not aware that the building was being used to shelter displaced persons. [6]
The Kamal Adwan Hospital, which was besieged by Israeli forces at the time of the airstrike, could not treat the wounded due to a lack of doctors. [2]
Gaza's Media Office condemned the strike, referring to it as a "horrific massacre against civilians, children and women", and demanded that medical teams be sent to northern Gaza. [1]
After the attack, the Municipality of Beit Lahia announced that the town had been declared a "disaster area", saying "[w]e declare that the city is a disaster area due to the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications". [8]
The IDF said in a statement released on the day of the attack that it had killed 40 "terrorists" in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, and that it "eliminated many terrorists" in central Gaza. [4] The United States called the bombing an "horrifying incident with a horrifying result". [9]
The French Foreign Ministry condemned the attack. [10] The UN Human Rights Office stated it was "appalled" by the airstrike and emphasized that "civilians are protected under international humanitarian law." [11]
In 2004, the Israeli Defense Forces launched Operation "Days of Penitence", otherwise known as Operation "Days of Repentance" in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation lasted between 29 September and 16 October 2004. About 130 Palestinians, and 1 Israeli were killed.
Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya is a city in the Gaza Strip, north of Jabalia, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It sits next to Beit Hanoun and close to the border with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 89,838 in 2017.
In 2008, Israel sought to halt the rocket and mortar fire from Gaza that killed four Israeli civilians that year and caused widespread trauma and disruption of life in Israeli towns and villages close to the Gaza border. In addition, Israel insisted that any deal include an end to Hamas's military buildup in Gaza, and movement toward the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas wanted an end to the frequent Israeli military strikes and incursions into Gaza, and an easing of the economic blockade that Israel has imposed since Hamas took over the area in 2007.
Nuseirat is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, five kilometers north-east of Deir al-Balah. The refugee camp is in the Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the refugee camp had a population of 31,747 and the surrounding Nuseirat municipality had a population of 54,851 in 2017. The camp was established after the 1948 Palestinian expulsion during the 1948 Palestine war.
An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
From 9 October 2023, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, claiming it was a stronghold for Hamas and other militant groups.
In the Israel–Hamas war, as part of the bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip. The IDF states such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. By July 2024, all 19 Gaza universities had suffered severe damage with 80% of university buildings destroyed, 103 academics killed, and 90,000 students enrolled in higher education no longer able to pursue their studies. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76 percent of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation", and in August 2024, UNICEF stated 564, or 85 percent, of all schools in Gaza had been hit by Israeli attacks.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in 2024 in the Palestinian territories.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.
On 10 August 2024, Israel struck the Al-Tabaeen school located in eastern Gaza City, which was hosting displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there during the Israel–Hamas war. At least 80 Palestinians were killed and 47 others were injured, with several victims being trapped in the school as the fire spread, according to Palestinian health authorities.
On 6 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces bombed the Shuhada al-Aqsa mosque and the nearby Ibn Rushd school in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The airstrike killed at least 26 Palestinians and wounded more than 93 others. The mosque and school had been sheltering people displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, including women and children.
The siege of North Gaza is an ongoing engagement of the Israel–Hamas war in the North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip, between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian forces. It began on 5 October 2024 when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reinvaded Jabalia and its refugee camp for the first time in months since earlier fighting.
On 17 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed the UNRWA-run Abu Hussein primary school, which had been turned into a shelter for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The airstrike killed at least 28 Palestinians and wounded 160 others.
On 19 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces conducted attacks on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 92 Palestinians and injuring more than 100, with many more missing believed to be trapped under the rubble. Israeli airstrikes and artillery shells struck several buildings in densely packed residential blocks filled with local residents and evacuees, primarily in the western regions of the city.