Northern Gaza's Beit Lahia declared 'disaster area' amid ongoing Israeli attacks

By Iyad Nabolsi

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) — Local authorities in northern Gaza's Beit Lahia declared the town a “disaster zone” Wednesday as Israel continues its onslaught in the Palestinian territory.

The decision came after the Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 93 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on a residential building in Beit Lahia on Tuesday.

The town’s municipality said residents faced "humanitarian catastrophe," due to the "ongoing genocidal war and siege imposed on the town."

It added that the Beit Lahia was now without food, water, hospitals, ambulances, civil defense, sanitation, and communication services.

Launching an urgent appeal to help "save what could be saved in the town which is subject to killing and genocide," the municipality urged the international community and organizations to pressure Israel to stop its attacks and allow entry of humanitarian aid, fuel, civil defense equipment, and vehicles to help open the roads and remove rubble.

On Tuesday, over 100 Palestinians, mostly women and children were killed in Beit Lahia in two Israeli deadly airstrikes in the town, including one that resulted in the death of 93 Palestinians after a residential building belonging to Abu Al-Nasr family was bombed in the morning.

The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping amid a suffocating siege on the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Over 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

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

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

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar