Middle East & North Africa
Gaza: Israeli strikes kill civilians in Maghazi and al-Mawasi as the Health Ministry presses for the Rafah crossing to open
Israeli strikes hit central, northern and southern Gaza on 29 October despite the ceasefire, while the Health Ministry says 21,468 patients need treatment abroad.
Israeli strikes and shelling hit several parts of the Gaza Strip on Thursday 29 October despite the ceasefire, killing and wounding civilians, according to reporting by Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah. The Gaza Health Ministry separately renewed its appeal for the Rafah crossing to be opened so that sick and wounded Palestinians can leave for treatment.
Strikes in the centre, north and south
Al Jazeera correspondent Ashraf Abu Amra reported that an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a civilian car in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing two Palestinians and wounding others, one of them critically. He said the strike came without prior warning. In Jabalia, in the north, one person was wounded. In al-Mawasi, in the Rafah area, a drone strike killed four civilian employees of the Ministry of Economy who were monitoring aid trucks entering through Kerem Shalom, according to Abu Amra, while colleague Moath al-Kahlout reported more than 30 wounded.
Emergency services told Al Jazeera that Israeli artillery struck a house east of Gaza City and wounded 11 people, among them women and children. The Health Ministry said six people were killed and 38 wounded over the previous 24 hours. These are figures given by the Gaza authorities and by Al Jazeera’s correspondents; the reports reviewed did not carry an Israeli military response to the individual incidents.
Rafah crossing appeal
The Health Ministry said 21,468 patients and wounded need treatment abroad, including 6,430 priority cases. It blamed repeated closures of the border and what it called “deliberate delays in evacuation procedures”, and said dozens had died while waiting for permission to leave. According to the ministry, 3,056 patients and wounded have been evacuated since February: 2,614 through Rafah and 442 through Kerem Shalom.
Winter ahead
The strikes come as the United Nations warns of a difficult winter for displaced families. Our earlier report, Gaza heads into a fourth winter in tents: UN reports aid convoys hit by incidents and 950,000 people at flood risk, sets out the UN findings on shelter and aid access. No date for reopening the crossing was given.
