An Israeli airstrike on a five-story residential building in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, has left over 90 Palestinians, including 25 children, dead or missing, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a “spotter” reportedly using binoculars to observe Israeli forces but was unaware the building housed displaced civilians.
The incident has sparked an urgent response from the United States, which condemned the attack as “horrifying” and demanded a detailed explanation from Israel.
United States State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that Israel had not yet provided satisfactory answers, saying, “They’re investigating the matter.”
Eyewitnesses described the devastating aftermath. Umm Malik Abu Nasr, a Beit Lahia resident, While speaking with BBC, recounted that her family was hosting displaced neighbors when the building collapsed, leaving many, including her husband and other family members, trapped under the rubble.
“At around 00:30 or 01:00, the Awda family house next to us was bombed,” she said. “We rushed to help and host them but their daughter [died] in our home.
“At 04:00 the multi-storey house of the Abu Nasr family collapsed on top of us. They [Israel forces] bombed the house, which was housing about 300 displaced people who had fled their homes. These people sought to take refuge in our houses. We hosted them because they were just civilians and had nothing to do with resistance [Palestinian armed groups].
“My husband and other young men are still under the rubble and have not been pulled out yet,” she added. “My husband’s cousin and her five children are still under the rubble.”
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the nearby Kamal Adwan hospital, which has just two doctors and a few nursing staff following an Israeli raid last week reported in a voice message recorded on Tuesday that they received more than 25 bodies, and another 77 people remain buried in the debris.
Safiya added that about 45 injured, including children and women, had also been brought in either by horse-drawn carts or by people carrying them.
UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland described the attack as part of a series of deadly strikes in northern Gaza, expressing “serious concerns about violations of humanitarian law.”
Since the Israeli ground offensive began in Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and Beit Hanoun on October 6, reports indicate hundreds have been killed, and over 70,000 residents have fled, while another 100,000 remain amid severe shortages of basic necessities.
The offensive, part of Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, has seen continued escalations. Since then, more than 43,160 people have died in Gaza, according to the health ministry.
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