Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 70 people, including 22 children, health officials say

By WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israeli airstrikes pounded northern and southern Gaza on Wednesday killing at least people including almost two dozen children according to local hospitals and strength officers a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned there was no way he would halt Israel s offensive in the Palestinian territory before Hamas is defeated At least people including children were killed in strikes around Jabaliya in northern Gaza alone according to hospitals and Gaza s Fitness Ministry The strikes came after Hamas on Monday issued an Israeli-American hostage a gesture that a few thought could lay the groundwork for a ceasefire and as U S President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia during a multi-day trip to Gulf countries Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Canada and the European Union Israel s military refused to comment on the strikes It warned Jabaliya residents to evacuate late Tuesday citing combatant infrastructure in the area including rocket launchers In Jabaliya rescue workers smashed through collapsed concrete slabs using hand tools lit by the light of cellphones to remove children s bodies Palestinians mourn children from their families who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday May According to local hospitals the strikes killed people including children AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday May According to local hospitals people were killed in the strikes including children AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi Palestinians inspect the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday May According to local hospitals people were killed in the strikes including children AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi A Palestinian woman mourns her son killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday May According to local hospitals people were killed in the strikes including children AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi Show Caption of Palestinians mourn children from their families who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday May According to local hospitals the strikes killed people including children AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi Expand Israel threatens to escalate operations in Gaza In comments circulated by Netanyahu s office Tuesday the prime minister disclosed Israeli forces were days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza with great strength to complete the mission It means destroying Hamas There had been widespread hope that Trump s visit to the Middle East could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month The war began when Hamas-led terrorists killed people in a intrusion into southern Israel Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed over Palestinians several of them women and children according to Gaza s Medical Ministry which does not say how a large number of were combatants Almost have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March the ministry mentioned Israel s offensive has obliterated vast swathes of Gaza s urban landscape and displaced of the population often multiple times Israeli media disclosed that one target in a strike on a hospital in Khan Younis on Tuesday was Mohammed Sinwar younger brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar who was killed by Israeli forces last October The military would not comment beyond saying it had targeted a Hamas command and control center which it reported was located beneath the European Hospital Mohammed Sinwar is thought to be Hamas top military leader in Gaza Israel has tried to assassinate him multiple times over the past decades A senior robustness official in Gaza commented Wednesday that ambulances were no longer able to reach the hospital due to damage from the strike which had also forced the facility to suspend surgical operations Dr Marwan al-Hams director general of Field Hospitals at Gaza s Healthcare Ministry reported the strike had severely damaged the hospital s water and sewage systems as well as its courtyard He added that the Israeli military hit a bulldozer brought in by hospital functionaries to repair the area to allow ambulances reach the building Until these damages are fixed we will have to shut down the bulk departments of the hospital he reported adding that he had no information about Israel s claimed target of the strike France condemns Israeli blockade of aid International food prevention experts warned earlier this week that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing viable starvation while million others can barely get enough food according to findings by the Integrated Food Measure Phase Classification a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises French President Emmanuel Macron strongly denounced Netanyahu s decision to block aid as a disgrace that has caused a major humanitarian problem I say it forcefully what Benjamin Netanyahu s administration is doing in contemporary times is unacceptable Macron announced Tuesday evening on TF national television There s no medicine We can t get the wounded out Doctors can t get in Macron who visited injured Palestinians in Egypt last month called for the reopening of the Gaza margin to humanitarian convoys Then yes we must fight to demilitarize Hamas free the hostages and build a political explanation he commented Netanyahu retorted that Macron was echoing the false propaganda of an extremist organization Gaza s population of around million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive Israel s -month-old military campaign has wiped away bulk maximum to produce food in the territory Markets are empty of greater part items and prices for what remains have skyrocketed Blockades force charity kitchens to close The United Nations says the number of meals that charity kitchens are providing in Gaza has plunged to around under Israel s blockade down from more than million a day in late April Charity kitchens are the last lifeline for the bulk of Gaza s population but they are rapidly shutting down because supplies are running out In the first two weeks of May at least kitchens more than of the total closed the U N humanitarian office commented Wednesday Only kitchens still operate The World Strength Organization mentioned it has only enough stocks to treat children with acute malnutrition a fraction of the need Thousands of children have been diagnosed with malnutrition in latest weeks Israel says the blockade is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm Israeli officers have asserted there is enough food in the territory after a surge in aid entered during the latest two-month ceasefire Lidman published from Tel Aviv Israel Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled and Lee Keath contributed from Cairo and Sylvie Corbet contributed from Paris