Israeli air strikes hammered Gaza, razing entire districts and filling morgues with dead Palestinians as Israel took revenge for the Hamas assaults that have triggered some of the worst blood-letting in 75 years of conflict.
Israeli strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1,055 people and wounded 5,184, Palestinian officials say.
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians from the Shamalkh family, who health officials said were killed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, October 9. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Israel has put Gaza under “total siege” to stop food and fuel reaching the enclave of 2.3 million people, many poor and dependent on aid. Hamas media said on Wednesday electricity went out after the only power station stopped working.
Mourners react as they pray during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 10. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
With Palestinian rescue workers overwhelmed, others in the crowded coastal strip joined the search for bodies in rubble.
Palestinians attend the funeral of Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas’ political office, who was killed in an air strike, in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza Strip, October 10. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian media said Israeli air strikes had hit homes in Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Residents on social media said many buildings had collapsed, sometimes trapping as many as 50 people. Gaza’s hospitals were filled with casualties.
A relative reacts as she attends the funeral of Palestinians from the Shamalkh family, who health officials said were killed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, October 9. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Wounded Palestinian Ala al-Kafarneh said he had lost eight family members when they were caught by an Israeli attack after fleeing two others. “A strike hit us and we don’t know why, we have done nothing,” he said.
The United Nations said more than 180,000 Gazans had been made homeless, many huddling on streets or in schools.
Colleagues of Palestinian journalists Mohammed Soboh and Saeed al-Taweel, who were killed when an Israeli missile hit a building while they were outside reporting, stand next to their bodies at a hospital in Gaza City, October 10. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Israeli strikes had since Saturday destroyed more than 22,600 residential units and 10 health facilities and damaged 48 schools.
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed in the Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 10. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
“Such blatant dehumanization and attempts to bomb a people into submission, to use starvation as a method of warfare, and to eradicate their national existence are nothing less than genocidal,” Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour wrote to the U.N. Security Council.
Boys cry as they attend the funeral of Palestinians from the Shamalkh family, who health officials said were killed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, October 9. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemMourners attend the funeral of Palestinians from the Shamalkh family, who health officials said were killed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, October 9. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemA relative reacts next to the body of one of the Palestinians from the Shamalkh family, who health officials said were killed in Israeli strikes, during the funeral in Gaza City, October 9. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemThe daughter of Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas’ political office, is comforted as she cries during her father’s funeral, after he was killed in an air strike, in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza Strip, October 10. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa