Israel war: US slams Israel over strike that killed kids

Israel’s key ally has slammed a strike in northern Gaza that killed a large number of children, as Hezbollah named a new leader.

An Israeli air strike on a single residential block has killed nearly 100 people, Gaza’s civil defence agency said, leaving rescuers scrambling for survivors as Israel pursued its offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel’s key ally and backer the United States called the strike — which killed a large number of children — “horrifying”.

The bombing came with Israel facing an international backlash after its parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency working with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian rescuers and desperate family members gathered around the demolished five-storey block in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

A Palestinian girl inspects the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

A charred body with long hair hung from an upper-storey window and bodies in blankets were lined up in the street as stunned relatives sought to identify loved ones.

“The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Palestinians search through the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

Israel’s military said it was “looking into the reports” of the strike. It earlier reported its forces had killed 40 Hamas fighters, and the loss of four soldiers in Gaza.

Washington expressed deep concern.

“This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here.”

Naim Qassem is Hezbollah’s new chief. Picture: Al-Manar TV

It comes after two Israeli politicians had to be physically dragged away from one another after an argument on the floor of parliament spiralled out of control.

The fight exploded during a hearing at the Knesset House Committee on a bill which would deport relatives of terrorists.

Meanwhile, Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah has announced a new chief, promoting former deputy Naim Qassem into the top job following the assassination of old leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israel in September.

The Lebanon based- terrorist organisation released a statement saying Qassem was elected due to his “adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah”.

The statement also added Hezbollah would ask “God Almighty to guide him in this noble mission in leading Hezbollah and its Islamic resistance”.“

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Originally published as Israel war: US slams Israel over strike that killed kids