Israel airstrikes raze Gazan safe houses, mosque; 30 die

Gaza: In a Monday attack on central Gaza, Israel razed down safe homes and a mosque in airstrikes. The attacks killed 30 people while rescue teams are searching for survivors, Al Jazeera reported.

There were health workers, patients and displaced Palestinians trapped inside the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They were reported to be terrified for life. While Al Jazeera reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum does ground reporting about the incident, some footage shows Israeli snipers killing at least seven Palestinians in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, a Houthi spokesperson rejected the US dismissing the link between the Gaza war and Red Sea attacks. The US has struck more targets in Yemen.

Official statistics are that at least 27,478 were killed and 66,835 were wounded in Gaza since Hamas triggered war after its October 7 attacks on Israel.

However, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that around 100,000 people in Gaza were killed, injured or are currently missing after four months of war. This is around five per cent of the Gaza Strip's population, he said.

Lazzarini said that more than 80 per cent of the 2.3 million population has been displaced, and most of them were displaced several times. According to him, a ceasefire is overdue, and a different trajectory is needed for the sake of the life of the people of Gaza.

Israel also hit a convoy that was carrying food supplies to Gaza on February 5 morning. Israel navy opened gunfire on the UNRWA confirmed, the UAE-based news house The National reported.

Director of Affairs for UNRWA's Gaza Office Thomas White informed through a post on X that no one was injured in the attack, but trucks with the envoy were destroyed. He posted pictures of damaged trucks, too.

After some Western countries pulled out of support for the UNRWA, which had been a lifeline for Palestinians for decades, it warned that it would have to stop operations by the end of this February and the crisis would be the worst in Palestine.