THE ISRAELI military killed at least 18 people, including children, in air strikes on central Gaza today — a day after it targeted a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced Palestinian families, health officials said today.
Israel fired on the Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps and Deir al-Balah and Zawaiyda towns. Four children and one woman were among those killed as well as the mayor of the Nuseirat municipality, according to hospital records.
Israel’s army said today that it was continuing operations in parts of central Gaza. It claimed that its troops had killed dozens of Hamas militants, located tunnel shafts and destroyed infrastructure in the area.
The strikes came a day after at least 33 people were killed at a UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp which Israel said was being used as a Hamas compound, without providing evidence.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed by eight months of Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians who are facing widespread hunger. United Nations agencies say more than a million people in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address a joint meeting of US Congress on July 24.
Congressional leaders confirmed the date of the address late Thursday after formally inviting Mr Netanyahu to come speak before them last week.
It is the most recent show of wartime support for the long-time ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu’s appearance before a growingly divided Congress is sure to be controversial and met with plenty of protests both inside the Capitol from politicians and outside by pro-Palestinian protesters.
And it will put on stark display the growing election-year divisions among Democrats over Mr Netanyahu’s prosecution of the months-long attack on Gaza.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, said: “Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly will not attend.”
