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17 dead from an Israeli attack in the northern Gaza Strip

Gaza

Gaza

Photo: Associated Press

At least 17 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a house housing displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, a hospital director said.

Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said the dead included nine women and that the number was likely to rise as rescue efforts continued, AP reports.

He added that they were killed in an attack on a house in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya, where Israel has been conducting an offensive for more than a month.

Israeli forces have largely surrounded and cordoned off Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun over the past month, allowing only a trickle of humanitarian aid. 

Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on October 6, and tens of thousands have fled to nearby Gaza City.

On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security said famine is imminent or may already be happening.

The growing desperation comes as the deadline approaches for an ultimatum the Biden administration has given Israel to increase the level of humanitarian aid allowed to Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.