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In a new development in the events in Gaza, Israeli shelling resulted in the killing of 14 Palestinians in the north and center of the Strip, with a wide incursion into Rafah. While Washington expressed concern over a video of a soldier kicking a corpse in the West Bank, Tel Aviv stressed that it had opened an investigation into the matter.
Israeli forces killed at least 14 Palestinians in tank and air strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip on Saturday, medics said, as tanks advanced further northwest of Rafah near the border with Egypt. Gaza health officials said Israeli tank shelling killed eight people and wounded others in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Six others were killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza City. Local sources reported that six citizens were killed and a number of people were injured in an Israeli bombardment that targeted a house belonging to the Abu al-Hatal and Ziyara families near the Gaza City Municipality Park, according to the Palestinian News and Information Agency. The Israeli army forces blew up residential buildings southeast of Gaza City, and also blew up a number of buildings north of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
In the northern town of Beit Hanoun, medics said an Israeli strike on a car killed and wounded several Palestinians. It was not clear how many of the dead were fighters and how many were civilians.
In the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, tanks advanced into the northwestern area with air support, residents said. Residents reported hearing heavy gunfire and explosions in the eastern parts of the city, where Israeli forces blew up several homes. Hamas said in a statement: “We are engaged in fierce clashes with the forces that have advanced east of the Tannour neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.”
investigation
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had opened an investigation after video footage appeared to show soldiers pushing bodies off the roof of a building in the West Bank. The footage, which began circulating online, showed three soldiers on the roof of a building in the town of Qabatiya dragging, pushing, throwing and in one case kicking the bodies of what appeared to be dead men off the roof.
American concern
In the same context, the White House announced that the scene of an Israeli soldier apparently kicking a dead body off the roof of a building in the West Bank is deeply disturbing, stressing that it has requested an explanation from Israel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: We have seen that video, and we find it deeply disturbing. If authentic, it clearly shows abhorrent and horrific behavior by professional soldiers.
Calls for calm
In a related context, the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ted Chaiban, called for an immediate ceasefire to protect children in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Chaiban stressed in a press statement the importance of developing a political solution that guarantees children’s rights. He explained that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening, as the number of displaced people has risen to 1.9 million people.
