Seven Killed in Gaza, Including Father and 13-Year-Old Son

At least seven killed in Gaza on Tuesday, including a father and his 13-year-old son, as Israeli strikes hit a displacement shelter, a school area and a foundry in Gaza City, and gunfire killed a man in Khan Younis, local health officials said.

Medics said Fadi Rajab and his son Abubakr were killed when an airstrike hit the roof of a displacement shelter in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood. A third Palestinian was killed in an Israeli airstrike near a school in the city’s Daraj neighbourhood.

In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, Israeli gunfire killed a man, medics said. Later on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike hit a metal foundry in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing three people and taking the day’s death toll to at least seven.

Seven killed in Gaza in a day of strikes

Israeli forces also shot dead a 14-year-old in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said. Moutaz Eyad Daghlas was killed in Burqa, north-west of Nablus, late on Monday. Israel said it was responding to stone-throwing.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams treated two people with gunshot wounds and took them to hospital, but that Israeli forces blocked access to a third wounded person and detained three volunteer paramedics.

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said Israeli forces killed at least 241 children or teenagers in the West Bank between 7 October 2023 and late June this year. Violence has increased in recent weeks, especially in the run-up to Israel’s 27 October election, before which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sought to appeal to hardline settlers.

Flood risk grows as winter arrives

Meanwhile, the United Nations warned of a growing flood risk in Gaza. The UN children’s agency said Israel had rejected the importation of equipment needed to repair a water basin in Gaza, and warned that the facility could overflow and endanger nearby residents through flooding and disease.

Local authorities say Israel destroyed water infrastructure and vehicles used to pump water during its war against Hamas, which displaced most of the territory’s more than two million residents. Most now live in tent camps.

One damaged facility is the Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin in Gaza City, which is now contaminated with sewage and at risk of overflowing after heavy rainfall, according to Unicef’s James Elder.

He told reporters the agency had been working with Israeli authorities and the Board of Peace for a year on a $3 million plan to repair it, but COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing humanitarian affairs in Gaza, had rejected the project in the past few days. He warned that toxic sewage could flow into the streets and tents of Gaza City, forcing children and families from their makeshift homes and greatly increasing the threat of disease.

This week, heavy rain has already flooded tens of thousands of tents housing displaced Palestinians in encampments across the Gaza Strip. A sand embankment collapsed on tents in Deir el-Balah, killing four people, including three small children, according to Dawn, although other reports put the toll at five, including four children.

Feature Pakistan earlier reported that Unicef had warned the Gaza basin repairs were blocked. The World Health Organisation warned of significant disease risks from flooding, poor sanitation and weak health and water services. Nearly one million displaced people across Gaza now face medium or high flood risk, its spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.

A ceasefire under strain

A US-brokered ceasefire has been in place since October last year, but little progress has been made towards reconstruction, as negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israeli troops to withdraw.

Both sides have traded accusations of violations, with Israel carrying out strikes on the territory and Hamas accused of attacking Israeli troops. The Israeli military said on Tuesday its troops had eliminated a person it described as a terrorist who crossed the yellow line in southern Gaza and approached its troops, calling it a ceasefire violation.

The Houthis in Yemen have also said they will continue to target Israel until the blockade of Gaza is lifted, linking the war in Gaza to the wider regional conflict. International oversight is also under strain: the United States has again skipped the UN rights review.

The political picture in Israel is also shifting. A new Israeli parliament has been sworn in, with Eisenkot trying to forge a government. The region’s tensions are meanwhile keeping oil markets on edge, as shipping attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed prices higher.

For the families in Gaza’s tent camps, the immediate danger is the rain. With the basin unrepaired and the tents already flooding, winter threatens to turn a humanitarian crisis into a public health emergency.

Frequently asked questions

How many people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday?

At least seven Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, including a father and his 13-year-old son, according to local health officials. A 14-year-old was also shot dead in the occupied West Bank.

Where did the deaths happen?

Fadi Rajab and his son Abubakr were killed in an airstrike on a displacement shelter in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. Others were killed near a school in Daraj, by gunfire in Khan Younis, and in an airstrike on a metal foundry in Sabra.

What is the flood risk in Gaza?

Unicef has warned that the Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin in Gaza City, contaminated with sewage, could overflow after heavy rainfall. Nearly one million displaced people face medium or high flood risk, and heavy rain has already flooded tens of thousands of tents.

Is there still a ceasefire in Gaza?

A US-brokered ceasefire has been in place since October last year, but both sides have traded accusations of violations, and little progress has been made towards reconstruction.

How many children have been killed in the West Bank?

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said Israeli forces killed at least 241 children or teenagers in the West Bank between 7 October 2023 and late June this year.