Israel Increases Bombing in the Gaza Strip Despite UN Security Council Resolution, Death Toll Now Reaches 32,490

Israeli military land operations in Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - Israel continues to carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip, increasing bombing in the south of the Palestinian enclave, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, as the death toll continues to rise.

Israel ignored growing international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and stepped up bombardment in the southern Palestinian territory on Wednesday.

A fireball lit up the night sky in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, the last remaining urban center in Gaza not attacked by Israeli ground forces, quoted from Daily Sabah, March 27.

Israel bombed at least three homes in Rafah overnight, raising fresh fears among more than a million people sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip.

One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from one family, health officials said, quoted by Reuters.

Mussa Dhaheer, who watched from below as neighbors helped emergency crews lower victims in black body bags from upstairs, said she woke up to the blast, kissed her frightened daughter and rushed outside to look for the victims. His father, 75, and mother, 62, were among the dead.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I can't understand what happened. My parents. My father and his friends who fled from Gaza City," he said.

At another bombing site, Jamil Abu Houri said the intensification of airstrikes was Israel's way of showing its contempt for last week's UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire. He fears a ground attack on Rafah, which Israel has threatened to carry out despite the pleas of its closest ally, Washington, would cause too much harm to civilians.

"The bombing has increased, and they have threatened us with an attack, and they say they have been given the green light to carry out an attack on Rafah. Where is the Security Council?" Abu Houri said.

"Look at our little ones. Look at our little ones. Where should we go? Where should we go?" he stressed.

Explosions were also heard and smoke could be seen rising in Gaza City in the north, where Israeli forces have been attacking the city's largest hospital for more than a week.

Fighting continued two days after the UN Security Council passed its first resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" and urging the release of some 130 hostages Israel says are still in Gaza, including 34 captives thought to be dead.

Israeli forces show no signs of stopping the fight against Hamas, with the military saying its fighter jets have struck more than 60 targets, including tunnels and buildings “where armed terrorists were identified.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Wednesday that the death toll of Palestinians since the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out on October 7 has reached 32,490 people and 74,889 others injured, as the war has entered its 173rd day.