ISRAEL’s military has again bombed residential buildings in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 19 Palestinians, as civilians in the besieged northern town searched for survivors in the aftermath of an earlier Israeli raid that killed nearly 100 people.
The latest Israeli bombing, late on Tuesday night, hit several homes belonging to the Al Louh family, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.
The attack came less than a day after Israel’s military bombed a five-storey building belonging to the Abu Nasr family in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 93 people and wounding dozens more. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at least 25 children were among the dead.
Israel’s military said it was “looking into the reports of the strike”, while its main ally, the United States, called the attack “horrifying”.
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said it was “appalled” by the bombing, describing it one of the deadliest single attacks in Gaza in nearly three months. The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) said the assault on the Abu Nasr family home was among seven “mass casualty incidents” in Gaza in the past week alone.
Israel’s escalating air and ground assault on Beit Lahiya comes as its siege of northern Gaza has entered its 26th day.
The Israeli military said it launched the offensive to stop Hamas fighters from regrouping in the north of the territory, despite saying earlier this year that it had wiped out the Palestinian group – which governs Gaza – in the area.
According to the the Palestinian Civil Defence, more than 100,000 people remain trapped in the north without food and water and dozens remain buried in the rubble of bombed homes, with rescue workers unable to reach them due to Israel’s ongoing siege and attacks.
Footage from the Israeli assault on the Abu Nasr family home early on Tuesday, obtained by Al Jazeera, showed a Palestinian man covered in dust trapped under concrete and steel bars as others tried to break apart walls using pick axes to free him. Outside the building, several bodies wrapped in blankets lay on the ground.
