In Pictures
Israel steps up attacks on Gaza before truce
Mass bombardment ‘keeps creating tragedies and misery for Palestinians’.
Israel has continued its attacks on Gaza in advance of an agreed truce with Hamas, killing dozens of Palestinians across the bombarded territory.
The relentless raids on Wednesday dimmed hopes that the expected four-day pause would lead to a permanent ceasefire.
“The ongoing mass bombardment of the Gaza Strip keeps creating tragedies and misery for Palestinians,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Khan Younis.
Three attacks in northern Gaza killed dozens of people, including entire families. There were also deadly air raids in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, including a building that houses a charity next to the Kuwait Speciality Hospital in Rafah.
Southern Gaza has been designated as a supposedly safe area by the Israeli army, but its continuous bombardment there means that the area is “equally dangerous” to the north and “people are equally at risk of losing their life”, Mahmoud said.
In central Gaza, Israeli forces hit residential buildings in Deir el-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, sparking fears of multiple deaths and injuries.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued raiding towns across the occupied West Bank. In one such incident, six Palestinians were shot dead in Tulkarem, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health said.
