An Israeli army airstrike hit a house in the early hours of Sunday morning in the northern Gaza Strip, leaving bodies ” jagged “according to one of the only relatives still alive at Agence France-Presse (AFP). According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, 13 children were killed in this strike on a family home, which left at least 25 people dead in Jabaliya, one of the most densely populated areas of the Palestinian territory.
The building was completely razed and transformed into a shapeless pile of stones, noted an AFP correspondent on site. The bombing occurred around 6 a.m. (5 a.m., in Paris) “at a time when people here wake up and eat breakfast”testified a family member. “There was a big explosion to the point that, when we arrived, all the bodies were torn to pieces”he added.
For its part, the Israeli army assured that it had targeted a site in an area of Jabaliya “where terrorists were operating”representative “a threat” for his troops. “Before the strike, numerous measures were taken to limit the risk of injuring civilians”a military spokesperson told AFP. According to the family member interviewed by AFP, the house housed people who were protecting themselves from the bombings.
Wrapped in bloodstained white shrouds, the victims’ bodies were transported aboard a van to be buried in a cemetery in Jabaliya. Hamas condemned the « massacre » of Jabaliya in a statement, affirming that the targeted house “was filled with more than 50 innocent civilians”. The majority were children and women, including people “who had been forcibly displaced by the occupation from the Jabaliya refugee camp”according to the Palestinian nationalist movement.
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