Israel has continued its relentless attacks on Rafah despite being ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to end the military operation there, and multiple deaths were reported in central and northern Gaza, which have come under renewed attacks. .
The Shaboura camp and areas near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah were attacked on Saturday, said Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah. Several people who were injured in the bombing were taken to hospital, he said.
The hospital renewed its call for fuel to be delivered “to ensure its continued operation”, stating that it was the only one in Rafah governorate still receiving patients.
The ICJ ruling, the third of its kind this year, ordered Israel to halt its offensive, citing an “immense risk” to some 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza. More than 800,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee Rafah since Israel launched the current offensive on May 7.
The UN's top court seeks to curb the rising number of Palestinian deaths since October, while alleviating an ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from internal displacement and severe hunger gripping most of Gaza's 2.3 million people. . Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed and vast areas of Gaza have been devastated by Israeli bombing.
Israel gave no indication that it was preparing to change course, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the ICJ ruling and called South Africa's genocide accusations “false, scandalous and morally repugnant.”
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories on Saturday called for sanctions against Israel for defying the court.
“Rest assured: Israel will not stop this madness until WE make it stop. Member states must impose sanctions, arms embargo and suspend diploma[matic]/political relations with Israel until its attack ceases,” Francesca Albanese published in X.
Intensified attacks in northern Gaza
Israel also attacked a school housing displaced people in Gaza's as-Saftawi neighborhood in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera journalists on the ground, citing medical sources.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed that at least 10 people were killed and 17 others wounded in the series of attacks in the neighborhood just south of Jabalia.
Israeli forces intensified attacks on the Jabalia camp on Saturday, forcing already displaced people to flee the area again.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a house located in another town of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza, killing 10 people, including women and children, according to Wafa.
In Gaza City, an Israeli attack on a family home in the Sabra neighborhood killed a woman and injured others. According to Wafa, an unspecified number of people were also reported killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Daraj neighborhood.
Other neighborhoods in Gaza City, including Sheikh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa and Zeitoun, also came under heavy artillery shelling, Wafa added, but there were no immediate details on the casualties.
As casualties continue to rise in northern Gaza, Israeli troops continue to surround Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, head of the pediatrics department.
He said the hospital cannot treat arriving patients due to the ongoing siege. Some patients and premature babies are still inside the hospital, she added.
Abu Safiya said he contacted the Red Cross and UNICEF, but did not get any guarantees that anything would be done to end the Israeli siege on the hospital.
Deaths in Wadi Gaza
Meanwhile, Israeli quadcopters also fired on Palestinians gathering in Wadi Gaza, killing at least six people, according to Al Jazeera's Mahmoud.
Palestinians desperate for aid often gather in Wadi Gaza to try to reach aid trucks arriving from the floating dock near Gaza City. Part of the floating dock built by the United States has been washed away, according to videos shared on social media on Saturday.
Also in central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least four people.
Israeli troops also seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, further slowing sporadic aid deliveries to Gaza's 2.3 million people. Earlier this week, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced it would suspend food distribution in Rafah, citing a lack of supplies and a lack of security in the densely populated city.
On Friday, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on social media site X that the situation had reached “a moment of clarity.”
“At a time when the people of Gaza face famine… it is more important than ever to heed the calls made over the past seven months: to release the hostages. Agree on a ceasefire. Put an end to this nightmare.”
