UN Warns of Escalating Gaza Casualties amid Renewed Israeli Airstrikes

In the western part of central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, eight people were killed in an airstrike, according to a Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson.

An overnight strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza left four people dead, including members of the same family, after a residential tower was hit.

Another strike in the western part of Nuseirat resulted in five deaths, with casualties taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Women and children continue to make up the majority of those affected.

Lethal airstrikes also targeted a school sheltering displaced families, killing eight people, half of whom were from the same family. Schools are increasingly being used as shelters due to a lack of basic facilities in Gaza.

New reports of an Israeli attack in Rafah have surfaced, with a rescue organization stating on Telegram that two bodies were recovered in northern Rafah. The victims were named as Salem Zaid Abu Samhadana and Akram Mahmoud Abu Ratima.

A Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, southeast of Rafah, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed that 61 Palestinians have been killed, and 162 injured over the past 48 hours.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad shows one person killed and another injured following Israeli shelling in the Miraj area north of Rafah.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, expressed concerns that continued Israeli assaults could lead to the near-extermination of Gaza’s population over the coming years. Citing a public health professor at Edinburgh University, she noted that presumable deaths could reach 15-20% of Gaza’s population by the end of the year.

Albanese warned, "If it’s not stopped, Israel’s assault could end up exterminating almost the entire population in Gaza over the next couple of years."

Between Monday and Thursday this week, 110 Palestinians were killed, and 230 others were injured in Israeli attacks, according to the United Nations. A strike on a residential building in central Gaza City killed nine people, including five children and one woman.

On the same day, a children’s nursery in Jabalia, northern Gaza, was hit, killing seven.

Humanitarian workers in Gaza are also reporting widespread contamination from explosive remnants of war (EO). A Palestinian girl was critically injured on Tuesday by discarded ordnance in Khan Younis, OCHA reported.

"Children face a heightened risk of exposure to EO as they often play outside and search for scraps among the rubble without being aware of the dangers," OCHA warned.

The death toll from the Israeli war now stands at 40,939, with at least 94,616 people injured since the war began on October 7 last year.