JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The U.N. peace envoy for the Middle East on Sunday condemned continued attacks on civilians after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya killed dozens late on Saturday.
“This follows weeks of intensified operations resulting in scores of civilian fatalities and near total lack of humanitarian aid reaching populations in the north,” said Tor Wennesland, the U.N. Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
Israel’s military said it intensified attacks in northern Gaza in early October to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
A total of 87 people were killed or missing under the rubble after an Israeli attack on Saturday on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the enclave’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The Israeli military has said it was investigating reports of the incident, which left one of the highest casualty tolls in months.
Gaza’s health ministry says the strikes have killed hundreds since the Israeli campaign escalated.
(Reporting by Clauda Tanios, Writing by Adam Makary; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ros Russell)
