GAZA: A church in Gaza, where 500 people were taking shelter, was hit by a missile with the Israeli military stating that it was looking into the incident which killed scores even as another front was opened when a US Navy ship intercepted several missiles and drones launched from Yemen, apparently towards Israel.
More than 600 people of Al-Zahra in Gaza were left homeless after an Israeli airstrike pulverised their locality. Without accounting for the deaths in the airstrike on the Orthodox Church of St Porphyrius, the Palestinian health ministry put the death toll at 4,137 with more than 13,000 injured, many of them children, and 16 aid workers.
The deaths in the church attack are suspected to be the second worst toll in a single attack after the death of over 300 in the attack on the Al-Ahli hospital, which the Israeli military is now disowning. Elsewhere, 80 Palestinian were killed in airstrikes, reported the local media. “The Israeli air force is ready to repel attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and is carrying out retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip at a rate that has not been seen for decades,” said an Israeli military spokesperson.
A Palestinian health ministry official said, “We are facing significant challenges in supplying medicines and diesel to healthcare facilities. The situation is rapidly approaching a humanitarian catastrophe, posing a mortal danger to patients in intensive care units, including young children.”
On a parallel track, diplomats scrambled to avoid a wider war and all eyes are on an Egypt-hosted meeting on Saturday which will see the participation of leaders from Arab and Gulf countries, Turkiye, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres.
Israel also ordered the evacuation of its largest town near the border with Lebanon and conducted raids in the West Bank amid clashes there.
Even as the US Navy warship in the northern Red Sea shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen, in Washington, President Joe Biden was considering a supplemental omnibus request of approximately $100 billion in security assistance to hot spots around the world where the US was an interested party. Of this, over $14 billion will be in emergency assistance for Israel.
Meanwhile, the Israeli defence forces were embarrassed by a Hamas video that showed a kidnapped woman stating that she had been treated well so far. “In the video published by Hamas, they try to portray themselves as humane. However, they are a horrific terrorist organisation responsible for the murder and abduction of babies, children, men, women and the elderly,” said an Israeli military post.