32 killed as Israel ramps up strikes in Gaza City

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A barrage of airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City as Israel ramped up its offensive there and urged Palestinians to evacuate, medical staff reported on Saturday.

The dead included 12 children, according to the morgue in Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Israel has in recent days intensified strikes across Gaza City, destroying multiple high-rise buildings and accusing Hamas of putting surveillance equipment in them.

The army said on Saturday it struck another high-rise used by Hamas in the area of Gaza City. It has ordered residents to leave, part of an offensive aimed at taking over the Gaza Strip's largest city, which it says is Hamas' last stronghold. Hundreds of thousands of people remain there, struggling under conditions of famine.

One of the strikes overnight and into early morning on Saturday hit a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a family of 10, including a mother and her three children, health officials said.

The Palestinian Football Association said a player for the Al-Helal Sporting Club, Mohammed Ramez Sultan, was killed in the strikes with 14 members of his family. Images showed the strikes followed by plumes of smoke.

Israel's army did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes.

Meanwhile, relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand a deal to release their loved ones and criticized what they said was a counterproductive approach by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in securing a resolution.

UN declaration

In another development, the United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a draft resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.

The assembly passed the resolution by a recorded vote of 142 in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions.

The New York Declaration, circulated at a high-level international conference held at the UN in late July, sets out an action-oriented pathway toward a peaceful settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the realization of the two-state solution.

The draft resolution was introduced by France and Saudi Arabia, the two co-chairs of the conference, along with the co-chairs of its working groups.

Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine, while thanking countries that voted for the endorsement of that document, invited "the party that is still pushing the option of war and destruction" to listen to the sound of reason.

The peace option is for everyone who wants to have a two-state solution, and opens the doors for integration in the entire Middle East and allows the region to reach its potential in terms of development and cooperation, the ambassador said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged UN member states to implement the outcomes of the international conference related to the two-state solution and to pressure Israel to halt military operations, agree to a ceasefire, end the use of starvation "as a weapon of war", prevent forced displacement, and release prisoners and hostages.

Agencies - Xinhua