Children among dozens killed in Israeli strike on northern Gaza house

At least 30 Palestinians have been killed, including 13 children, after Israel bombed a building housing displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp, as the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned of “famine” in northern Gaza” after more than a month of bombardment and military siege.

The bombing of the Alloush family home, which was packed with residents and displaced people, resulted in “the complete destruction” of the building, the Wafa news agency reported on Sunday. The wounded are being transferred to the Baptist Hospital, it added.

Witnesses said the multistorey building was destroyed in the attack, with many still trapped under the rubble.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the attack happened at about 6am local time on Sunday.

“According to an eyewitness, it was pretty quiet apart from the buzz of drones and quadcopters and the fighter jets that were manoeuvring in the area. All of a sudden, without any prior warning, the house was bombed,” he said.

Five more people were killed in another Israeli strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to media reports.

Since October 6, the Israeli military has been engaged in a withering air and ground assault on areas of northern Gaza, including Jabalia, saying they are targeting Hamas fighters.

Human rights organisations and campaigners say the overwhelming majority of casualties are women and children. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of the thousands of deaths it had managed to verify.

“Civilians in Gaza have borne the brunt of the attacks, including through the initial ‘complete siege’ of Gaza by Israeli forces,” the OHCHR said.

“Conduct by Israeli forces has caused unprecedented levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness and disease.”

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, accused Israel again on Saturday of weaponising hunger in its war on the Palestinian enclave.

“Famine is likely happening in northern Gaza,” he said in a post on X.