Amid intensifying airstrikes on central Gaza that have killed scores of sheltering Palestinians, the U.S. launched attacks on militia targets in Iraq after three troops were injured in drone strikes.
Residents of central Gaza described a night of shelling and airstrikes shaking the Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij camps, where Palestinians forced to leave their homes were sheltering.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said his team heard “harrowing accounts” on Monday of strikes in central Gaza and in the vicinity of the the Maghazi refugee camp.
Palestinian health authorities on Monday reported that 70 people were killed, while Al-Aqsa Hospital staff reported receiving around 100 casualties, Ghebreyesus said.
On Sunday, Doctors Without Borders said more than 200 people were injured and 131 deaths were recorded after bombardments on refugee camps in central Gaza.
Meanwhile, in response to drone attacks that injured three service members, the U.S. launched strikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq, according to a statement from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities,” Austin said in a statement.
About 20,600 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, and 1.9 million people have been displaced across the battered enclave, according to the UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the ground offensive began rose to 156 over the weekend. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, and an estimated 240 were taken hostage.
