War

Gaza's civil defence agency has said 30 people have killed, including children, and dozens were missing after an Israeli air strike hit a building in the Palestinian territory's north.Israel's army told AFP that it had conducted overnight strikes and hit "terrorist targets" in the area.
After the strike early this morning 30 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the five-storey residential building in Beit Lahia, "including children and women", civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, updating a previous figure of 26.Seven people were injured, Mr Bassal added. Earlier he said at least 59 people were missing."The chances of rescuing more wounded are decreasing because of the continuous shooting and artillery shelling," Mr Bassal said.AFP images showed men covered in dust scrambling to reach people under the rubble, as some of the bodies were taken away on a donkey-pulled cart.Other AFP images showed the flattened building with broken concrete and twisted metal sticking out from the ruins as more bodies covered in blankets lay nearby.Vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in already ravaged north Gaza, Israel on 6 October began a major air and ground assault that began in Jabalia and then expanded to Beit Lahia.Israel's army said there were "ongoing terrorist activities in the area of Beit Lahia", adding: "Overnight, several strikes were conducted on terrorist targets in the area.""We emphasise that there have been continuous efforts to evacuate the civilian population from the active war zone in the area," the ministry said in a statement.Hamas, which runs the territory, accused Israel of committing a "massacre" which it said is "a continuation of the genocidal war and revenge against unarmed civilians".Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the United States, Israel's biggest supporter, for "enabling this continued bloodshed".In a statement issued from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, he also demanded that "the United States force Israel to stop its aggression and comply with international law".The Palestinian foreign ministry urged the international community to act to "immediately halt these atrocities".Earlier, Gaza's civil defence said other Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people, including four women and three children, across the war-torn territory.Gaza's health ministry has said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war had reached 43,846.The majority of the dead are civilians, according to ministry figures, which the United Nations considers reliable.Pope Francis for the first time tackled claims of Israel's ongoing "genocide" of Palestinians in Gaza in a forthcoming book, urging further investigation into whether Israel's actions meet the definition.Titled "Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World", the book includes his latest and most forthright intervention into the more than year-long war."According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide," the pontiff wrote in extracts published on in Italy's La Stampa daily."This should be studied carefully to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by jurists and international organisations," he added.The Argentine pontiff has frequently deplored the number of victims of Israel's operations in Gaza.However his call for a probe marks the first time he has publicly used the term genocide - without endorsing it - in the context of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.Earlier this week, a United Nations Special Committee judged Israel's conduct of warfare in Gaza "consistent with the characteristics of genocide", accusing the country of "using starvation as a method of war".Its conclusions have already been condemned by Israel's key backer the United States.Francis has also frequently called for the return of the Israeli hostages taken by Palestinian Islamist militants on 7 October.