WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
At least 60 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and early this morning, Palestinian officials said, according to agencies.
The Gaza Strip Civil Defense said earlier this morning that 44 people had been killed.
Israel has launched another major offensive on Gaza in recent days, citing the goal of returning hostages held by Hamas - designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - and destroying the militant group.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed a small number of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time in two and a half months, saying he was under pressure to lift a blockade that has led to malnutrition and hunger.
But UN agencies said the few trucks that have entered are nowhere near enough to meet the huge need for food, medicine and other supplies. About 600 trucks a day entered during a ceasefire earlier this year.
Two strikes in northern Gaza hit a family home and a school converted into a shelter, killing at least 22 people – more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
An attack in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 13 people, and another in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp killed 15, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Two strikes in the southern town of Khan Younis killed one person.
The Israeli military has not commented, but says it is targeting only militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the group operates in densely populated areas.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 prisoners, about a third of whom are believed to be alive.
The Israeli offensive has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its census. About 90 percent of the population has been displaced, some more than once.
