Gaza: Nearly 60 Palestinians killed in latest Israeli attacks

Nearly 60 Palestinians have been killed and more than 130 injured in Israeli strikes on the war-ravaged Gaza Strip since midnight on Saturday, according to the territory’s health ministry, as Israel signalled the beginning of a more aggressive military campaign. 

The director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza said on Saturday that patients were being treated under "catastrophic" circumstances.

"Since midnight, we have received 58 martyrs and 133 wounded," hospital chief Marwan Sultan added. 

The hospital’s surroundings were hit again on Saturday morning, causing ceilings to collapse and cracks to form in the walls. 

Sultan, who manages one of Gaza’s few remaining operational hospitals, also warned that the facility could no longer treat seriously wounded patients due to critical shortages of supplies and damage from nearby bombardments. 

According to Al Jazeera Arabic on Saturday, at least 31 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes since the morning.

Gaza’s health ministry reported receiving the bodies of 153 Palestinians, along with 459 injured, over the past 24 hours. 

Authorities noted that many victims remain trapped under rubble or are lying in the streets, unreachable by ambulances and civil defence crews. 

Reported casualties include three people killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Tal al-Zaatar area of northern Gaza. 

Several Palestinians were also injured in a strike near the Andalus Tower, northwest of Gaza City. 

Additionally, two Palestinians were killed and four others injured in a drone attack on the Ma’an area east of southern Gaza's Khan Younis, while six were killed and several more injured in a separate strike on Bani Suhaila, east of the city. 

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Saturday that four children were killed and seven others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, after warplanes struck residential homes in the area. 

Separately, Wafa said several civilians were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al-Mahatta neighbourhood of central Gaza's Deir al-Balah. 

The intensified campaign comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, with a prolonged Israeli siege stopping the entry of all aid, while the Israeli military announced it had entered the "initial stages" of its 'Gideon's Chariots' offensive plan. 

According to the military, the plan forms part of "the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war's objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas". 

It added that it had "launched extensive strikes and transferred forces to seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip". 

The latest development drew swift backlash from several world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he was "alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more" while speaking at a gathering of the Arab League in Baghdad. 

“We need a permanent ceasefire, now,” the UN chief emphasised. 

Arab leaders also condemned the escalation, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, host of the Arab League summit, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Gaza’s 2.1 million residents. 

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is a key mediator in ceasefire efforts, characterised Israel’s actions as "systematic crimes" intended to "obliterate and annihilate” the Palestinian people and “end their existence in the Gaza Strip". 

The widely condemned offensive coincided with US President Donald Trump concluding his high-profile Arab Gulf tour, which failed to yield tangible results in securing a ceasefire or restoring humanitarian aid to Gaza that been blocked by Israel for over two months. 

NBC News reported on Friday that the Trump administration is developing a plan to permanently relocate up to one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, despite firm opposition from Palestinian factions- including rivals Hamas and the Palestinian Authority- who have strongly rejected any forced displacement of Palestinians from their homeland. 

Meanwhile, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha, have so far shown no significant progress. 

Following a six-week ceasefire, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza and resumed its military campaign in March, resulting in the deaths of more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. 

The offensive has intensified international calls for a renewed ceasefire and for urgent access to food and medical aid, as UN aid chief Tom Fletcher urged the Security Council this week to take action to "prevent genocide".