DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city, according to health officials.

Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week.

On the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings.

Strikes across Gaza Strip kill at least 31 as international scholars accuse Israel of genocide

“Another merciless night in Gaza City,” said Saeed Abu Elaish, a Jabaliya-born medic sheltering in the northwestern side of the city.

Hospitals in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli fire on Monday, more than half of them women and children.

At least 13 people were killed in Gaza City, where Israel has carried out several previous large-scale raids since Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel to ignite the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

Strikes across Gaza Strip kill at least 31 as international scholars accuse Israel of genocide

Israel said it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group — now largely reduced to a guerrilla organization — operates in densely populated areas.

Gaza City residents, many displaced by war multiple times, now face the twin threats of combat and hunger.

The world’s leading authority on food crises said last month that it was in the throes of famine — a crisis driven by ongoing fighting and Israel’s blockade, magnified by repeated mass displacement and the collapse of food production.

A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded.

The ministry did not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but said women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals. UN agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them but hasn’t provided its own toll.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called it “an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard.” It said the determination was “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies.”

Meanwhile, an activist flotilla headed to Gaza that had departed Barcelona was forced back to port after a storm hit parts of Spain overnight.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of around 20 boats with participants from 44 countries, chose to return and delay its departure to “prioritize safety,” a statement said Monday.

The expedition includes the prominent climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, who took part in a previous flotilla that was intercepted in July.

Organizers said that with winds exceeding 56 kph, some of the smaller boats taking part in the mission would have been at risk.

The flotilla is the largest attempt yet to symbolically break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

All previous ones have been intercepted at sea by Israeli forces. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms and that there are multiple other channels for sending aid to Gaza., This news data comes from:http://wi-oj-twu-tdu.771bg.com

Israel has taken steps to further restrict the delivery of food to northern Gaza as it presses ahead with its latest offensive in Gaza City.