Deadly Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Kills 36, Leaves Streets and Families in Ruins

A devastating Israeli airstrike on a residential block in Nuseirat, central Gaza, overnight reduced homes to rubble, left streets obliterated, and killed at least 36 people, including women and children. Survivors and rescuers described scenes of unimaginable destruction and loss, as families were torn apart and buried beneath the debris.

“This is a human liver, a liver,” Akram Bayoumi said, holding a charred scrap of flesh amid the wreckage. Bayoumi had come searching for his cousin, only to find his cousin’s family, including his wife and son, dead under the rubble. “I swear, we don’t understand anything.”

Mokhtar Abou Ayaman Elshaar, a local resident, rushed to the scene with other rescuers after the strike, using cellphone flashlights to search for survivors. “We heard the screams and pleas of those buried under the rubble,” Elshaar recounted. “Without equipment, there was nothing we could do but listen until they went silent.”

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike targeted a “senior terrorist in the Islamic Jihad” responsible for leading attacks against Israeli civilians and troops. The IDF added that it is reviewing reports of civilian casualties.

Outside Al-Awda Hospital, grieving families mourned as bodies were passed through the crowd for burial. The sheer scale of the tragedy was evident as infants, children, and adults alike were carried away, wrapped in blankets that became their shrouds.

Local health officials report that almost 45,000 people have died in Gaza due to the ongoing conflict, with the U.N. estimating that nearly 70% of the dead are women and children.

On Saturday, health officials confirmed that Israeli airstrikes had killed an additional 18 people, including seven during an attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians. Among the dead were women, children, and a 2-day-old baby girl. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For children who survive, the trauma extends far beyond physical injuries. A recent assessment by a Gaza-based NGO sponsored by War Child UK revealed that 96% of children in Gaza feel their death is imminent, while half have expressed a desire to die.

The haunting aftermath of the strike could be seen in the morgue, where a bloodied child lay tucked under an orange coat, piled alongside other bodies. A man gently stroked the face of another deceased child, and two small children, wrapped together on a single stretcher, were carried for burial.

Fadi Al-Bayoumi’s infant son, Ali, was laid pale and lifeless on his father’s chest, wrapped in a red blanket. The scene, reported by NBC's Gaza crew, was described as nearly impossible to comprehend.

Mokhtar Elshaar summed up the devastation, saying, “It’s not a bloody week, not a bloody year and two months. Nuseirat has been dying every day silently. We were not displaced from Nuseirat, but we are being annihilated.”

For many, the sound of fighter jets and drones continues to haunt the skies over Nuseirat, a community that, as survivors describe, is facing daily destruction and relentless grief.