Israeli attacks on Gaza kill at least 88 people, including sleeping children | News about the Israel-Palestine conflict

Israel launched a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 90 people, including many sleeping children, as its main ally, the United States, once again rejected a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease fire is demanded.

At least 66 people were killed in an early Thursday attack that hit a residential neighborhood in Beit Lahiya in besieged northern Gaza, Palestinian health officials said.

Hussam Abu Safia, director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, told Al Jazeera that most of the victims “were asleep when they were killed”.

“A very large number of victims have arrived and there are still many corpses hanging on the walls, on the ceiling. They are mostly children and women,” he said in a voice message.

Abu Safia said hospital staff rushed to the scene, recovered the bodies, collected remains and rescued the trapped people.

“We are already operating with minimal resources, so most of our staff are now busy rescuing the injured… due to lack of ambulances and resources,” the pediatrician added.

“The situation is frankly very serious. We cannot cope with this massive number of injured and casualties arriving at Kamal Adwan Hospital.”

Separately on Thursday, at least 22 people, including 10 children, were killed in Israeli shelling of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, a civil defense spokesman said.

1-14: Ceasefire resolution blocked by the US

Over 13 months of Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed an estimated 44,000 people, including more than 17,000 children, and injured 104,000. With aid largely cut off, many in the densely populated territory now face the threat of starvation.

Israel launched its fierce military campaign after an estimated 1,139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in an attack led by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 last year, with around 250 people taken captive. About 100 of them were released after a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal a year ago, but negotiations have largely stalled since then.

The overnight attacks on Thursday came hours after a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of captives failed to pass when a permanent member, the US, voted lone No in the 15-member body .

This was the fourth time that the administration of US President Joe Biden has rejected such a resolution since the beginning of the war.

Deputy Representative Robert Wood said the US, which gives Israel at least $3.8 billion in military aid annually, could not support the measure because it was unrelated to the immediate release of those held in Gaza.

“We made it clear throughout the negotiations that we could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages,” he said.

As the latest international attempt to end the fighting has failed, civilians in Gaza continue to bear the brunt, particularly in the northern governorate, which has been under Israeli siege for more than six weeks. Israel says it wants to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.

In addition to the ongoing bombing, Gazans are struggling to cope with a humanitarian crisis that is worsening as winter approaches.

Most Palestinians, who have been forced to flee wave after wave of Israeli attacks, live in tents and makeshift shelters that are inadequate for the cold wind and rain. The Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that more than a million Palestinians in Gaza do not have enough shelter for the coming months.

Food supply is another problem.

Some pockets of the territory of 2.2 million people are on the brink of starvation and a growing number of civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.

The entry of aid trucks has been severely hampered by Israeli authorities and, more recently, by criminal gangs operating in areas under Israeli control, according to reports.