At least 87 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Beit Lahia

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The death toll from an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia has mounted to 87, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

A ministry statement added that more than 40 other people were also injured, including some in critical condition.

Israeli warplanes carried out deadly airstrikes on the city late Saturday, destroying an entire residential block.

According to witnesses, rescuers have combed the rubble for survivors.

The Israeli army has pressed ahead with a massive offensive, now in its 16th day, in northern Gaza amid a suffocating siege on the area.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 99,800 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi