Medical sources reported that a Palestinian girl was killed and others were injured when Israeli aircraft bombed the Abu Shamala family home near the Banna bakery west of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli artillery shelling was reported on the town of al-Maghraqa, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
In the southern Gaza Strip, eight Palestinians, including displaced persons, were killed in a drone strike targeting a tent near the city of Asdaa in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis. Fifteen others were injured, according to medical sources who said the wounded were transferred to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis for treatment.
A medical source also confirmed the deaths of four other people in a bombing of the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, while a source reported the deaths of two Palestinians in an Israeli bombing that targeted a charity vehicle in the city.
Eyewitnesses reported that the occupation forces are deliberately bombing residential buildings in the town of Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Yunis, amid intense artillery shelling of several neighborhoods and areas in the city.
In the northern Gaza Strip, a father and his child from the Abu Nada family, as well as a child from the al-Harkali family, were killed in an airstrike targeting a house on Kashko Street in the south of Gaza City. Shelling of the town of Jabalia al-Balad also resulted in the deaths of two Palestinians, one of whom was a pregnant woman.
Medical sources stated that the number of journalists killed in the Israeli bombing of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City has risen to three: Samir al-Rifai, Suleiman Hajjaj, and Ismail Badah. Several other journalists were also injured, but their number remains unclear.
"American veto legitimizes genocide"
For its part, the Government Media Office in Gaza expressed its condemnation on Thursday of the United States' use of its veto power in the Security Council to thwart an Algerian draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and allowing humanitarian aid into the Strip.
In an official statement, the media office described the veto as "shameful and a new stain on the United States' moral record," and considered it "a clear expression of complete bias toward the Israeli killing machine and direct support for the ongoing war crimes against children, women, and civilians."
Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea said that her country "will not support any action that does not condemn Hamas," adding that "any resolution that undermines Israel's security is completely unacceptable." The media office considered this an attempt to legitimize genocide, starvation, and mass killing.
The statement emphasized that the US veto "directly contributes to the continuation of the genocide against more than 2.4 million Palestinians trapped under bombardment and starvation," holding Washington responsible for obstructing any international efforts to halt the aggression.
The media office commended the positions supporting the draft UN resolution, calling on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights and humanitarian organizations to "take urgent and effective action outside the framework of the dysfunctional Security Council to save the lives of innocent people, impose an immediate and comprehensive cessation of aggression, ensure the flow of aid, and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes."
This escalation comes amid catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza, with aid workers warning of mass starvation amid widespread destruction and a lack of basic services.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left approximately 180,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including children
