At least 45 Palestinians have been martyred in an Israeli strike on homes sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.
“We have received 45 martyrs from the Israeli bombing on the houses of three families in Deir al-Balah in the past hour,” Dr Eyad Al-Jabri, head of the Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah told newsmen.
In a joint statement issued by the Qatari-Saudi Coordination Council, the emir of Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince have expressed their “deep concern about the humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip.
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also stressed the need “to stop military operations in the Palestinian territories, and the need to protect civilians in accordance with international law”, the statement said.
“The two sides also stressed the importance of international pressure on Israel to stop the forced displacement of Palestinians,” it added.
The two leaders also urged the international community to “intensify efforts” to settle the Palestinian issue in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.
The United Nations human rights office has said the pattern of attacks that target and impact civilian infrastructure in Gaza raises concerns about Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.
Israel’s actions also “significantly raises the risk of atrocity crimes”, it highlighted in a report.
According to reports, UN has been unable to deliver aid in the last three days due to shortage of trucks in Gaza, telecommunications blackout and increased hostilities in the south.
