Gaza blasted by Israeli air strikes as death toll rises to 100 within one day
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 17 in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Tuesday, bringing the 24 hour death toll to close to 100.
It came as the UN said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape and “sexualised torture,” on women in its southern Israel attacks on October 7 which sparked the war.
The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence Pramila Patten said investigators have “found clear and convincing information” that women and children suffered sexual violence.
Gaza’s latest fatalities brought the overall Palestinian toll to 30,631 with over 72,000 people wounded. Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed the border on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250.
Latest ceasefire talks have ended with no breakthrough and the Islamic festival Ramadan just days away. It was hoped a temporary peace deal might stall a feared Israeli ground attack on Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering.
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Aid groups say they can no longer distribute aid in northern Gaza because of the breakdown of law and order. Over 100 Palestinians were killed last week when thousands converged on an aid convoy and the Israeli military opened fire.
Palestinian residents living in the region sit around the destroyed buildings following an Israeli attack (Anadolu via Getty Images)Palestinian officials said most of the victims were shot, while Israel said most were trampled. The U.N. says a quarter of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people are starving and its report on claims of sexual violence by Hamas comes after weeks of investigation.
Patten’s team was not able to meet with any victims of sexual violence and the number of victims remains unknown. She said, “a small number of those who are undergoing treatment are reportedly experiencing severe mental distress and trauma.”
Across various locations, she said, the team found “that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered - mostly women - with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.”
While this is circumstantial, she said the pattern of undressing and restraining victims “may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.” Patten said, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that multiple incidents of sexual violence took place with victims being subjected to rape and/or gang rape” before being killed.
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