UN: Scenes in northern Gaza ‘horrific’

The United Nations urged Israel on Sunday to open more roads into the Gaza Strip to facilitate aid deliveries to the population.

The humanitarian organization said the scenes in northern Gaza were “horrific” amid reports of dozens of people killed in Beit Lahia.

“In Gaza, there are several unreliable and difficult-to-access crossings that do not allow for humanitarian operations on the scale required,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on its social media account.

The office called for several routes to be opened to allow vital supplies and services to reach the Strip.

Israeli forces launched a new offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza two weeks ago. Since then, aid organizations have reported severe starvation and devastation among the civilian population and have called on Israel to open controlled routes into the Strip.

Israel is inspecting supplies entering the Gaza Strip for weapons.

The Palestinian health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday that a total of 87 people were killed or missing in the Israeli attack on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

The ministry added that more than 40 people were injured in the attack.

Earlier, the Civil Defense in Gaza announced that at least 73 people were killed in a missile attack by Israeli warplanes on a residential area in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian news agency “Wafa” quoted local sources as saying that “the occupation warplanes launched violent airstrikes on projects in Beit Lahia, which led to the complete destruction of a residential complex over the heads of civilians, killing about 73 citizens and wounding dozens, many of whom are still under the rubble.”

Officials from the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the interruption of electricity, communications and internet services has hampered rescue efforts.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 42,603 ​​Palestinians have been killed and 99,795 others injured in Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 7.