Israel attack kills 9 in north Gaza as humanitarian conditions worsen

At least nine people have been killed and several wounded in an Israeli drone attack on Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.
One in three children under the age of two in the northern Gaza Strip suffers from acute malnutrition, UNICEF warns.Columbia students continue to demonstrate despite crackdown
At Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestine protesters are calling for the release of fellow student demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil while covering their faces out of fear of being doxxed amid ongoing attempts to crack down on student activists.On Thursday, Homeland Security agents searched two student dorm rooms and later announced that Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student, would be deported, alleging that she had overstayed her F-1 student visa.Gaza’s death toll rises
The Health Ministry in Gaza has just released its latest report on the number of people killed and wounded by Israel’s war on the territory.

In a statement, it said a total of 19 killed – seven newly killed, 12 bodies recovered – were recorded and 26 wounded people arrived in hospitals during the past 48 hours.

This brought the confirmed number of people killed in Israeli attacks since October 7 to at least 48,543, with 111,981 others wounded, the ministry added.

Many victims remain under the rubble, while the Government Media Office in Gaza has put the death toll at more than 61,000, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are now presumed dead.More about Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya
As we’ve been reporting, at least nine Palestinians have been killed and others wounded in an Israeli air attack on northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya.

The attack reportedly targeted a relief team that was accompanied by journalists and photographers. At least three local journalists were among the dead, according to Palestinian media.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center said in a statement that Israel killed “three journalists in an airstrike on a media team documenting relief efforts in northern Gaza”.

“The journalists were documenting humanitarian relief efforts for those affected by Israel’s genocidal war,” the statement added, according to Anadolu.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it struck “two terrorists … operating a drone that posed a threat” to Israeli soldiers in the area of Beit Lahiya.

“Later, a number of additional terrorists collected the drone operating equipment and entered a vehicle. The [Israeli military] struck the terrorists,” it added, without providing any evidence about its claims.Children with kidney failure in Gaza desperate for treatment
Inside al-Rantisi Hospital, the only facility offering dialysis services for children in Gaza City, Nehad Mahra comforts her son as he gets the treatment he needs.

Eleven-year-old Naseem Mahra suffered kidney failure three years ago. He needs dialysis treatment three times a week but he’s missed many sessions after most hospitals in Gaza were destroyed in Israeli air attacks.

Nehad Mahra was forced to search for a facility to treat her son while they were being repeatedly displaced.

“As hospitals went out of operation, we were forced to run from one area to another, hoping to find a facility offering dialysis. His father carried him throughout our search. When he was detained by the Israeli military, our child was left helpless on the ground. Some kind people brought him back to us,” she told Al Jazeera from inside al-Rantisi Hospital.

Once a fully equipped department, the facility can now treat only a handful of children.

Al-Rantisi Hospital was forced to suspend services after it came under Israeli attacks. It has now resumed limited services but only functions with six machines, down from 14 before the war.

“When the Israeli military destroyed the hospital, including the dialysis machines, many of the child patients were forced to flee to the south,” Nabil Ayyad, the hospital’s head of kidney department, told Al Jazeera. “They moved to the Al-Aqsa Hospital,” he said, noting that sessions were reduced.

“This has negatively impacted their lives; many of them died as a result.”