At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military bombing of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Monday, according to local health officials.
The attacks also injured 10 people, a spokesperson for Kamal Adwan Hospital told CNN. Residents and rescuers say another 10 people were trapped under the rubble of buildings that were leveled in the attack.
CNN video of the aftermath shows the concrete skeleton of the destroyed buildings, with entire walls shattered on several floors. Stone slabs and metal rods spill from the roof of the building as Palestinian men, women and children gather near the site. Some hold their heads in their hands, while others search for survivors in the rubble.
In footage filmed for CNN, Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances could be seen moving slowly along demolished roads. Rescuers and citizens dug through broken pieces of concrete. In one scene, emergency crews resorted to using a rope to lift the body of a woman wrapped in a blanket.
Israel's war in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 has depleted critical supplies and destroyed major roads.
Fares Afana, ambulance and emergency director for northern Gaza, told CNN that emergency operations are “very difficult due to equipment shortages.”
A man who spoke to CNN from the scene said children were trapped under the Kahlout family's destroyed home.
“Most of the people under the rubble are women and children. “They were displaced,” the man said. “There is no safe place here,” he added.
In recent days, the Israeli military has stepped up attacks in several locations, saying its soldiers “eliminated more than 200 terrorists, destroyed terrorist infrastructure and destroyed underground tunnels from both ground and air” in northern Gaza.
