Palestinian officials have reported the death toll from the Israeli strike…

DEIR AL-BALA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Gaza Strip’s health ministry says the death toll from an Israeli strike on a building housing displaced people has risen to 60.

Dr. Marwan al-Khams, director of the ministry’s field hospitals department, announced the casualties from the strike on Tuesday at a press conference. According to him, another 17 people are missing.

The strike took place in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the Israeli border, where Israel has been conducting a major operation for more than three weeks.

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. AP’s earlier story appears below.

Israeli strike on five-story building housing displaced Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip At least 34 people were killed early Tuesday, more than half of them women and children, Gaza’s health ministry said.

In another development, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had chosen Sheikh Naim Qassem as its new top leader following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike last month.

The group’s statement said Hezbollah’s leadership council had chosen Qassem, who served as Nasrallah’s deputy leader for more than three decades, as the new secretary general. Hezbollah vowed to continue Nasrallah’s policies “until victory is achieved.”

Gaza’s health ministry emergency service said another 20 people were injured in the strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, near the Israeli border.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has been conducting a large-scale operation in northern Gaza for more than three weeks, targeting, they say, pockets of Hamas militants who have regrouped there.

According to an initial casualty list provided by emergency services, the dead included a mother and her five children, some of whom were adults, and a second mother and six children.

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiyah, director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it had been overwhelmed by a wave of casualties as a result of the strike. Israeli forces raided a medical facility over the weekend, detaining dozens of doctors.

The Israeli military has repeatedly struck shelters for displaced people in recent months, saying it was targeting Palestinian militants with precision and trying to avoid harming civilians. Women and children often die as a result of strikes.

The military said it detained scores of Hamas militants in the raid on Kamal Adwan, the latest in a series of raids on hospitals since the war began.

Israel’s latest major operation in northern Gaza, centered on the Jabaliya refugee camp, has left hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands displaced from their homes in another wave of mass displacement More than a year of war has passed on the tiny coastal territory.

This month, Israel also sharply limited aid to the north, prompting warning from the USA that failure to facilitate increased relief efforts could lead to reductions in military assistance.

Palestinians fear Israel passes law plan proposed by a group of former generalswho proposed that civilians in the north be ordered to evacuate, humanitarian aid supplies cut off, and anyone remaining there should be considered a militant.

The military denies implementing such a plan, and the government has not clearly stated whether it will implement it in whole or in part.

On Monday, the Israeli parliament passed two laws that could hinder the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – largest aid provider in the Gaza Strip – from activities in the Palestinian territories. It was the culmination of a long campaign against UNRWA, which Israel says has been infiltrated by Hamas, which the agency denies.

The war began when Hamas-led militants swept into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Israeli retaliatory offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. About 90% of the population of 2.3 million have been forced to flee their homes, often multiple times.

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Magdi reported from Cairo and Mrou from Beirut.

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