Israeli forces kill pregnant woman and her unborn baby in Gaza City assault

The Israeli military has killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby near the Shati refugee camp as it continued its large-scale assault on Gaza City, with several strikes targeting civilians.

Medical sources at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital said that another child was also killed in the attack on a house near the camp on Monday, according to the Wafa news agency.

The military also continued to pummel the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods in the south of the city, where more than 1,000 buildings have been levelled since Israel began its push to take over the urban centre last month, killing 10 people on Monday.

Earlier in the day, scenes of chaos played out at a crowded market on Gaza City’s Nasser Street, with locals scattering in all directions amid the debris after an Israeli attack, which killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.

Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout said people were panic-stricken.

“They don’t know what to do and where to go. They are trying so hard to find a safer place, but the Israeli army keep attacking every corner in the city,” he said.

Further south, in Deir el-Balah, Israel targeted a group of citizens inside Al-Mazra’a School. Later, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital announced the death of Anas Saeed Abu Mughsib, Wafe reported.

Medical sources said that in total, at least 59 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Strip on Monday.

‘Man-made famine in the 21st Century’

Already displaced by war multiple times, Gaza City residents now face the twin threats of war and famine.

Hunger caused by Israel’s months-long blockade led to the deaths of three infants on Monday. Children account for more than a third of the nearly 350 deaths from hunger and starvation in the enclave since Israel’s war began in October 2023.

Authorities say the number of humanitarian aid trucks that Israel has allowed into the Strip in the last month has only met 15 percent of the starving population’s needs.

Yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a report in August from the world’s leading authority on food crises, the Integrated Food Security Classification (PIC), that famine was under way in Gaza City, calling it an “outright lie”.

On Monday, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Lammy acknowledged the United Nations-backed IPC declaration, saying he was “outraged” by Israel for not allowing enough aid to enter Gaza.

“This is not a natural disaster, it’s a man-made famine in the 21st century,” he said.

“We need a massive, massive humanitarian response to prevent more deaths, crucial NGOs, humanitarians and health workers allowed to operate, and stockpiles of aid on Gaza’s borders released.”

‘Power-hungry ruler’

Meanwhile, in Israel, mourners gathered for the separate funerals of Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, captives taken from Israel during the October 2023 Hamas attack, whose remains were recovered in an Israeli military operation in Gaza last week.

Some expressed anger at the government for not reaching a deal with Hamas to end the fighting and return the remaining captives.

“It’s a horror, it’s profound sadness and grief beyond words to describe the anger, the insult to the hostages, the insult to the fallen, the insult to the soldiers sent once again to Gaza,” mourner Ruti Taro told The Associated Press news agency.

“No one knows why, except for the power-hungry ruler,” he said.

Israeli news site Ynet reported on Monday that Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir had warned of the implications of Netanyahu’s intention to take over Gaza without making any post-war plans.

“You are heading to a military government,” Zamir reportedly told a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet late on Sunday. “Your plan is leading us there. Understand the implications”.

Israel’s war on Gaza has so far killed more than 63,000 Palestinians. About one million inhabitants of Gaza City, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times, are now being forced out under sustained Israeli attacks, with no safe zones to flee to in the enclave.