Gaza: 17-day-old child among 50 killed in the last 24 hours

By Francesca Merlo 

As Pope Francis continues his appeals for peace in the Middle East, Israel continues its incessant bombings in Gaza.

In the 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, over 50 people were killed by Israeli bombs in the Gaza strip. These latest fatalities, reported by Gaza's health ministry, bring the cumulative death toll since the outbreak of the violence on October 7, 2023 to 45,936. 

Deaths across the Gaza strip

Among the latest reported tragedies are the deaths of two people at the Halawa School in Jabalia, a shelter for displaced persons in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, in the Bureij refugee camp, ten members of a single family, including a 4-month-old baby, were also killed. Other deaths include five people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza, three family members in Deir al-Balah, and a 17-day-old baby in the Sheikh Radwan area. The child's name was Adnan. 

Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health has highlighted the high number of women and children among the casualties. In fact, in the coastal area of al-Mawasi, which has been designated a "humanitarian safe zone" by the Israeli military, at least five children were killed in airstrikes targeting makeshift camps for displaced individuals.

While this area is densely populated, Israeli forces continue to assert that their strikes only target Hamas operations. 

Overwhelmed health system 

The number of injured now exceeds 109,000, and medical teams in the Gaza strip are extremely overwhelmed with so many of the city's hospitals and medical centres reduced to rubble.

Hospitals are operating beyond capacity, and essential resources such as medicine, electricity, and clean water are rapidly running out.

Alarm across the international community

Although the Israeli military maintains that its strikes are directed at Hamas targets, the disproportionate civilian death toll has raised alarm among the international community and humanitarian organisations.

Pope Francis, too, continues to call for an end to the violence and suffering of the people in Gaza and for peace in the Middle East, urging all parties to prioritise dialogue over violence.