Israel-Gaza conflict: More than 50 people killed or missing in Israeli attacks on central Gaza, local officials say

CNN
—

According to the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office (GMO), 52 people were killed or remain missing in Israeli attacks near Gaza on Saturday.

According to GMO, 38 bodies have arrived at Al Ahli Baptist Hospital and 14 people are still missing under the rubble of houses and buildings. Videos from two of the affected areas show extensive destruction and numerous casualties after large explosions.

The Civil Defense Authority said that numerous people were left lying under the rubble after Israeli planes attacked a house near the Batsh cemetery in the Al Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.

Another attack on a residential block in Al Shati, another neighborhood near Gaza City, was reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a brief statement on Saturday that IDF fighter jets had attacked sites of “Hamas military infrastructure” in the Gaza City area.

The Israeli military has not provided any information about where the attacks took place. CNN is seeking further details.

A medic on the ground told CNN that the airstrike on Al Shati camp felt like an “earthquake.”

“The Al-Shati camp near the Al-Sousi Mosque was attacked, it was as if an earthquake had shaken an entire apartment block.

“Entire families lie beneath the destroyed houses.”

Local resident Abu Mahmoud Al-Karir said: “Not long ago, people were behaving normally, some were buying goods, others were at home.

“Then the occupying forces’ planes came and bombed this block of flats. As you can see, an entire block was wiped out. Tall buildings were razed to the ground and are now buried underground.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had previously stated that at least 22 people were killed in an attack on civilians sheltered in the south of the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The attack hit the tents of displaced people in the Palestinian town of Mawasi, parts of which the Israeli military had designated as a humanitarian zone.

The Israeli military is currently investigating the incident, but said initial investigations have found “no evidence” that its military was responsible.

Israel is stepping up operations in nearby Rafah, where it launched an offensive last month as part of its campaign to crush Hamas in Gaza. A Gaza official said the Israeli military had advanced deeper into Rafah and was moving closer to the coast.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the total death toll in the Gaza Strip since October 7 is 37,551 and there are 85,911 injured.

Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people.

This story is being updated continuously. Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed to this story.