Calls to end Gaza ‘bloodbath’ after Israeli attack kills 274 Palestinians

Al Jazeera:

Several countries and international organisations have condemned the Israeli killing of at least 274 Palestinians during an operation to free four Israeli captives in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.

Authorities in the Gaza Strip on Sunday said at least 698 others were injured in “an unprecedented brutal attack”, some in critical condition, as hospitals struggle to cope with the flow of wounded or dead bodies.

Reporting from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary on Sunday said civil defence crews are still finding dead or wounded Palestinians from under the rubble in the aftermath of the Nuseirat attack, as more air strikes target areas across the enclave.

“The bombardment continues intensely and it is very hard for the emergency responders to reach the killed and injured Palestinians. They are telling us that there are still people on the roads and under the rubble that they could not reach,” she said.

Since October 7, Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 37,084 Palestinians and wounded 84,494 others, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the Palestinian Authority is seeking an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council over the Nuseirat attack.

Palestinian armed group Hamas said Israel’s release of four captives “will not change the Israeli army’s strategic failure in the Gaza Strip”, especially after taking eight months to enact the operation.

It also said reports that the United States facilitated the Israeli operation prove again that Washington is “complicit and completely involved in the war crimes being perpetrated” in the besieged coastal enclave.