At least 93, including 20 children, reported killed in Israeli attack on Gaza building

An Israeli attack on a residential building sheltering displaced civilians in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahiya is reported to have killed 93 people, including 20 children, according to medics.
Dozens of people are reported missing and 150 others estimated to be injured. The Israeli military is yet to comment on the deadly air strike.
Nearby Kamal Adwan hospital is struggling to treat people injured in the attack as it reportedly has run out of medical supplies and only has two paediatric doctors, with no surgeons.
The attack came a day after Israel’s parliament passed a law to ban the UN Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) from operating inside the country, alarming many of Israel’s allies who fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
UN secretary general António Guterres has called on Israel not to ban and criminalise aid to Palestinians and reminded the country of its obligation to international law.
Israeli politicians passed two laws on Monday that could threaten the work of the main UN agency providing aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on Israeli soil, severing ties with it and labelling it a terror organisation.
Mr Guterres said Unrwa, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, would be prevented from doing UN-mandated work if the laws are implemented. “There is no alternative to Unrwa,” he said in a statement.
He then called on Israel “to act consistently with its obligations” under both UN Charter and international law, as well as the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. “National legislation cannot alter those obligations,” Mr Guterres added.
Israel’s decision to ban the Unrwa could result in the deaths of more children and represent a form of collective punishment for Gazans if fully implemented, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
“If Unrwa is unable to operate, it’ll likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” said Unicef spokesman James Elder. “So a decision such as this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children.”
Other UN agencies at the same briefing said it would be impossible to fill the void. “It is indispensable and there is no alternative to it at this point,” said UN humanitarian office spokesman Jens Lærke.
In response to a question about whether the ban represented a form of collective punishment against Gazans, he said: “I think it is a fair description of what they have decided here, if implemented, that this would add to the acts of collective punishment that we have seen imposed on Gaza.”
Israel’s parliament approved a second piece of legislation on Monday to cut ties with the main UN provider of aid to Gaza and to designate it a terror organisation, threatening the agency as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza mounts.
The Bill prohibits ties between Israeli officials and UN Agency for Palestinian refugees Unrwa. It also strips Unrwa staff of their legal immunities. It followed an earlier Bill passed and banned all activity of Unrwa on Israeli soil.
The legislation, which would not take effect immediately, risks collapsing the already fragile aid distribution process at a moment when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and Israel is under increased US pressure to ramp up aid.
The two Bills signal a new low in relations between Israel and Unrwa, which Israel accuses of maintaining close ties with Hamas militants. The changes are also a serious blow to the agency and to Palestinians in Gaza who have become reliant upon it for aid throughout more than a year of war.
[ What is Unrwa and why has Israel’s parliament voted to ban it?Opens in new window ]
In Lebanon, at least 60 people were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, two security sources and the mayor of Baalbek told Reuters on Monday. – Agencies