Israel attacks in Gaza killed at least seven Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, while UNICEF warned that a blocked repair could expose families to sewage and flooding. The Israel-Gaza war has left much of the territory in ruins, and the deaths came as heavy rain hit crowded tent camps. Medics said Fadi Rajab and his 13-year-old son, Abubakr, died when an airstrike struck the roof of a shelter for displaced families in Zeitoun, Gaza City.
Killings in Gaza and the West Bank
Another death came from an airstrike beside a school in the Daraj area of Gaza City. In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, medics said Israeli gunfire killed a man. Later, an airstrike on a metal foundry in the Sabra neighbourhood killed three people, bringing the day's known toll to at least seven.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said a 14-year-old was shot dead by Israeli forces, while Israel said its troops were responding to stone-throwing. The Palestinian health ministry said Moutaz Eyad Daghlas was killed in Burqa, northwest of Nablus, late on Monday. The Palestine Red Crescent said it took two people with gunshot injuries to hospital, but that Israeli troops prevented crews from reaching a third casualty and held three volunteer paramedics.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem counts at least 241 children and teenagers killed by Israeli forces in the territory between the Hamas raid of Oct 7, 2023, and late June this year. Violence has risen in recent weeks, particularly in the lead-up to Israel's Oct 27 election, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had courted hardline settlers in the West Bank. On Oct 23, Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers near Hebron, and Israeli troops then shot the gunmen dead. Israeli forces later launched a large-scale operation in Hebron.
Water and flood risks in Gaza
UNICEF says Israel has turned down equipment that would be used to fix a water basin in Gaza, and cautioned that the facility could spill over and put nearby residents at risk of floods and illness. UNICEF's James Elder told a briefing in Geneva that the Sheikh Radwan facility, a basin for storm runoff in Gaza City, is already tainted with sewage and may overflow after heavy rainfall.
Elder said the agency had spent a year working with Israeli authorities and the Board of Peace, a body linked to US President Donald Trump, on a repair scheme costing $3 million. But COGAT had rejected the project in the past few days, and Elder said the agency was baffled. He warned that sewage could spill into streets and tents, driving displaced households out of their shelters once again.
Gaza's local authorities say the war destroyed water systems and pumping trucks. Most of the more than two million people in the territory have been displaced and now live in tent camps. Heavy rain has flooded a vast number of tents across the Strip this week, and four people, including three young children, died when a sand embankment fell onto their tents.
The World Health Organisation's Christian Lindmeier said at the same briefing that flooding, poor sanitation and limited health and water services create serious risks of communicable diseases. He added that close to 1 million displaced people in Gaza face medium or high flood risk. A US-brokered ceasefire from last year envisaged the rebuilding of Gaza, but progress has been limited. Negotiators have not settled how Hamas would give up its weapons or how Israeli troops would pull back.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Oct 7, 2023: Hamas carried out a raid in Israel, the starting point of B'Tselem's count of children and teenagers killed.
- Oct 23: Two Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian gunmen near Hebron, and the gunmen were then shot dead by Israeli troops.
- Oct 27: Israel's election, in the run-up to which violence rose.
- Late June this year: the end point of B'Tselem's count of at least 241 children and teenagers killed by Israeli forces.
- This week: heavy rain flooded tents in Gaza, and four people died when a sand embankment collapsed.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Gaza mein Israeli hamlon mein kam az kam saat Falastini mare gaye hain, jin mein ek baap aur uska 13 saal ka beta bhi shamil hai, aur ye local health officials ne bataya. UNICEF ke mutabiq Israel ne Gaza City ke ek paani ke basin ki marammat ka saamaan rad kar diya hai, jis se baarish mein sewage aur sailaab ka khatra hai. Bahut se tents baarish mein doob gaye hain aur bimariyon ka khatra barh gaya hai. Pakistan mein aam logon ke liye abhi koi seedha asar nahi bataya gaya, lekin tension barhne par tel ki qeemton par asar ho sakta hai.
