Many more civilians killed and wounded as Israel strikes house and mosque

At least 18 civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house and adjacent mosque during the evening prayers on Saturday. This turned the fifth day of Israel’s war against the people of Gaza into the worst in terms of loss of life. The Director of the Palestinian Police in Gaza, Tayseer Al-Batsh, was killed in the attack, along with nine members of his family. All of the other casualties were among the worshippers in the adjacent mosque.

The total number of casualties on Saturday was 49 people killed, including 5 children and 8 women. This brought the total number of deaths since the beginning of the war to 168, of which 34 were children and 20 were women. Almost three hundred people were wounded on Saturday (79 children, 46 women), bringing the total since Israel launched its offensive last Tuesday to 1,100, almost 350 of whom are children and 171 are women.

The Israeli forces carried out 416 strikes on Saturday: 202 airborne missile attacks, 127 from warships and 87 by artillery. This brings the total strikes to 2,477 since the beginning of the war.

According to Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights, 176 houses have been destroyed completely in the offensive; more than 1,000 have been damaged severely.