West Asia Tensions: Israeli Strikes Kill Over 100 In Gaza As Palestinians Commemorate 77 Years Of Nakba

Israeli airstrikes killed over a hundred people across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, May 15, when Palestinians commemorated Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian society when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

Despite the near-famine situation is Gaza owing to Israel's stringent aid blockade since March, bombing and air strikes continue in Gaza with no respite for the Palestinians.

Quoting local health officials, Al Jazeera reported that at least 61 people were killed overnight and early on Thursday in a barrage of attacks on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis while in Jabalia in northern Gaza, another Israeli strike on al-Tawbah medical clinic killed at least 15 people and wounded several others.

Moreover, Israel’s army also reportedly launched attack on three hospitals in north and south Gaza inlcuding al-Awda hospital in Jabalia, the Indonesian Hospital in Khan Younis, and the European hospital.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamas in a statement said that Israel was making a “desperate attempt to negotiate under cover of fire” as indirect ceasefire talks take place between Israel and Hamas, involving US envoys and Qatar and Egyptian mediators in Doha.

Meanwhile, taking cognisance of the worsening situation in Gaza, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief Catherine Russell on Thursday decried the killing of over 45 children in Israeli air strikes against the Gaza Strip in the past two days.

“More than 1 million children in Gaza are at risk of starvation. They are deprived of food, water and medicine,” she said while adding, “All parties to the conflict must respect international humanitarian law.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s deadly war on Gaza so far has killed at least 53,010 Palestinians and wounded 119,919. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.