Israel kills over 100 in Gaza as Palestinians mark 77 years since the Nakba

More than 103 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in a wave of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, deepening an already catastrophic toll after 19 months of unrelenting bombardment.

This comes as Palestinians mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, when more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled by Zionist paramilitary groups during the creation of Israel in 1948.At least 59 people were killed overnight and into Thursday in a barrage of attacks on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to local health officials. Medical staff at Nasser Medical Complex reported an influx of casualties, many of them children. In the north, Israel also struck Gaza City and Jabalia.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, described “another bloody day” in Gaza, as Israel intensified its air attacks on residential areas.

“Israeli warplanes directly targeted nine houses without any warning in the city of Khan Younis,” he said, adding that entire families were “completely wiped out”.He described the situation as chaotic, with civilians fleeing repeated forced evacuation orders. “The Israeli military targeted civilians while they were asleep,” launching 13 air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp and nearby areas. Civil defence teams, he added, are overwhelmed and struggling to rescue those trapped under the rubble, due to a lack of equipment.

Abu Azzoum said the strikes reflect a “pattern of attacks not aimed at military targets, but at systematically destroying Gaza’s social fabric”.Thousands forced to flee
The latest killings have triggered new waves of displacement. Thousands fled Gaza City on Thursday after the Israeli military issued sudden forced evacuation orders the day before.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported scenes of panic and fear as residents packed their belongings and tried to escape the expected onslaught.

“We’re seeing families carrying their belongings and taking to the streets,” Mahmoud said. “The children and elderly are carrying whatever they’re able to carry … They don’t know where to go. There is no safe place for these people – the so-called shelters have already been destroyed by Israeli bombs.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, displaced Palestinian Hasan Moqbel described the continuing assault as a war on civilians. “They have been bombing Gaza for 19 months. What’s left in Gaza? Innocent children are dying. There is no armed activity here. Most of them are elderly people who are dying,” he said.

On the wider mood in Gaza on Nakba Day, Abu Azzoum said people are “deeply worried” about a potential expansion of Israeli ground operations. “They believe the Israeli army may force them to flee again – to new areas where conditions are even worse.”