Scores of people in Gaza were reportedly killed in pre-dawn airstrikes Thursday as the resumption of Israel’s ground and air offensive left a trail of destruction observed by NBC News’ team on the ground.
The Israel Defense Forces launched strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, killing dozens of people according to three hospitals, the Associated Press reported. The strikes hit multiple homes in the middle of the night, with children among those killed as they slept, the news agency reported.
In the hours ahead of the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested that civilians in the enclave would “pay the full price” if the hostages who remain held by Hamas are not returned.
“Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas — the alternative is complete destruction and annihilation,” he said in an address to the Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday as the Israeli military continued to issue evacuation orders for areas it said were “battle zones.”
Thursday’s strikes came after more than 400 people were killed, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, when Israel resumed strikes across the enclave, breaking its fragile ceasefire with Hamas after two months of relative calm.
Both Israel and the United States have blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting, accusing the militant group of rejecting a proposal to extend the first phase of the current ceasefire agreement, despite that was not part of the original deal.
At least 59 hostages, both dead and alive, are thought to remain in Gaza out of around 250 taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
Nearly 49,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave, according to local health officials, whose figures the World Health Organization has said in the past are reputable.
The resumption of war has already brought renewed devastation to the Gaza Strip, with babies and pregnant mothers among those killed when Israeli forces struck the tent camps in which they had sought shelter were struck by Israeli forces.
Among those killed was Afnan Fouad Al-Ghannam, 20, who was seven months pregnant, and her one-year-old son, Mohammad, when their shelter in the Muwasi tent camp was hit. While Muwasi has long been designated a humanitarian zone, it has been struck on multiple occasions during the war.
The boy’s father could be seen cradling his son, wrapped in a bloodied white shroud, in video captured by NBC News’ crew on the ground on Wednesday.
“I would give my life for you,” Alaa Abu Hilal, said, holding Mohammed in his arms.
“Your separation hurts me,” the father told the lifeless body of his young child. “Take care of your mother.”
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