Israeli Attack Hits Aid Center In Gaza, Palestinian Civilian Death Toll Increases To 37,598

JAKARTA - Israel's military attack, (Israel Defense Forces), hit another humanitarian aid facility in the Gaza Strip, when the death toll of civilians in the Palestinian enclave was nearly 37,600.

Eight Palestinians were killed on Sunday as Israeli airstrikes against a training college near Gaza City that was used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses said, as Israeli tanks entered the southern city of Rafah.

The attack hit part of an industry college managed by the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) which now provides assistance to displaced families, witnesses said.

"Some people came to receive coupons and others had fled their homes and they took shelter here. Some were filling in water, others received coupons, and suddenly we heard something falling. We ran away, those who were carrying water let it spill," said Mohammed Tafesh, one of the eyewitnesses., reported Reuters June 23.

UNRWA and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Reuters photographer saw a low-rise building completely destroyed and bodies wrapped in blankets placed on the side of the road, waiting to be taken away.

"We pulled out the martyrs (from below the rubble), one who used to sell cold drinks and another who used to sell pastries and the other who distributed or received coupons," said Tafesh.

"There were about four or five martyrs and 10 people were injured. Alhamdulillah, the condition was well injured," he continued.

For more than eight months in Israel's war in Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, progress has focused on two areas where IDF forces, Rafah, have not yet captured on the southern tip of Gaza and the area around Deir al-Balah in the central section.

Residents say Israeli tanks have advanced to the edge of the northwestern refugee camp of Mawasi in heavy fighting with Hamas-led fighters, part of progress to the western and northern Rafah, where they have blown up dozens of houses in recent days.

"The battle with resistance was fierce. The occupation forces are now monitoring the Munawas area, which forced families there to go to Khan Younis," said a resident, who asked not to be named, in the chat application.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it was continuing "a targeted operation based on intelligence" in the Rafah area, claiming to have succeeded in finding arsenals and tunnels, as well as killing armed Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Hamas armed wing and the Islamic Jihad movement said their fighters had attacked Israeli troops in the Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs as well as previously planted explosives.

Another attack killed two people in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

On Saturday, Palestinian health officials said at least 40 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli separate attacks in several northern Gaza districts, where Israeli soldiers said they had attacked Hamas military infrastructure. Hamas said its target was civilian residents.

In Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, health officials at Kamal Adwan Hospital said a baby died of malnutrition, bringing the number of children who died from malnutrition or dehydration since October 7 to at least 30, a number that health officials say reflects the lack of recording.

Israel's ground and airstrikes in Gaza were triggered by an attack by a militant group led by Hamas into Israel's southern region on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and holding more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Separately, health authorities in Gaza announced on Sunday that the death toll of Palestinian civilians as a result of Israeli attacks in the region had reached 37,598 people and injured 86,032 people.