Many children among them

At least 55 killed in attack on Gaza Strip

A woman walks among rubble in the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip.(Bild: APA/AFP)

At least 55 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a residential building in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The Palestinian news agency WAFA and the terrorist militia Hamas reported that many women and children were among the victims.

The civil emergency service in the Gaza Strip also reported 55 Palestinians killed in Beit Lahiya. Dozens of people were also injured, it added. Among the dead were a mother with her five children and another mother with six children, according to an initial casualty list from the emergency services.

Patients had already been evacuated from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Monday. In view of the many new casualties, the hospital is overwhelmed.(Bild: APA/AFP)

Victims still under rubble, hospital overwhelmed
Many victims are still believed to be under the rubble of the building. The director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital explained that the hospital was overwhelmed by the large number of injured people requiring treatment. "The world must act and not just stand by and watch the genocide in Gaza," Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya told "Al Jazeera". The Israeli military initially made no statement.

UN chief: "There is no alternative to UNRWA"
Meanwhile, there is horror at Israel's decision to ban the Palestinian UN aid organization. "There is no alternative to UNRWA," declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He warned of "devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees" in the occupied territory.

Seven Western countries had expressed their "deep concern" about the legislative plans shortly before the Knesset's decision. In a statement, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea "emphatically" called on the Israeli government to fulfill its international obligations.

UNRWA to cease all activities in the Gaza Strip
According to the newly approved controversial law, the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA must cease its work in Israel next year - the organization will be completely banned from operating on Israeli territory. 92 out of 120 MPs voted in favour of the proposal. The supporters of the ban justified the law with the accusation that some UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.