An Israeli air attack stages an attack on a multistorey residential building, with many people trapped under the rubble and rescue operations highly affected.
At least 87 people were killed or are missing under the debris after an Israeli air attack in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, authorities said.
The overnight raid hit several houses and a multistorey residential building, known as the Beit Lahiya Project, the Gaza Government Media Office stated.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 87 people were killed or missing under the rubble of buildings, and over 40 were injured.
The rescue operation has been made more complicated by the communications blackout and the blockage of the roads in the north of the enclave, which have been suffering from a 16-day Israeli military siege that has cut off food, water, medicine, and other necessary services.
Beit Lahiya is a northern Gaza Strip city near Jabalia and Beit Hanoon. All three towns are seriously affected by the Israeli onslaught that has also cut off telephone and internet access.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud noted that the extent of the brutality of the latest attack keeps unfolding, with many people still buried under massive piles of rubble in the north town of Beit Lahiya.
“What’s left in this massive explosion resulting from several air strikes that shook the foundations of these surrounding areas,” he said.
Mahmoud said large chunks of concrete block the path to bombed-out areas, hence preventing the paramedics and Palestinian Civil Defense members from conducting rescue missions successfully in Beit Lahiya, resulting in more casualties, the majority of whom are women, children, and elderly.
