Cats eat Palestinian corpses in Gaza amid devastating Israeli onslaught 

Cats were seen eating the corpses of Palestinians in central Gaza amid a devastating Israeli incursion that has killed scores and blocked rescue workers from assisting victims. 

Footage posted on Sunday by local video creator Talal Mahmoud showed cats eating from bodies of Palestinians strewn on the streets near a UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

Ambulances and first responders had been unable to reach many areas under attack due to the heavy Israeli bombardment in recent days. 

The Gaza-based government media office on Monday condemned the “horrific war crimes” committed by Israeli forces in its latest ground assault on the Nuseirat camp, which local media said began on the weekend. 

The media office said 17 tanks and other military vehicles stormed the camp under the cover of drones and air strikes. 

The “brutal assault” killed at least 50 people and left 20 homes destroyed or severely damaged, the office said in a statement. 

“We strongly condemn the savage aggression carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the New Camp in al-Nuseirat,” it added. 

“This attack is part of a broader campaign of genocide, systematic killing, total destruction, and forced displacement of civilians.”

'We were sitting in our tents when missiles suddenly started raining down on us'

- Rizq Ashour, eyewitness 

As Nuseirat was being heavily attacked, Israeli drone strikes hit makeshift camps for displaced people in the so-called “humanitarian zone” west of Khan Younis late on Sunday, killing 11 people.  

Another air strike killed at least five people securing the delivery of aid trucks near the “humanitarian zone” in Rafah.

“We were sitting in our tents when missiles suddenly started raining down on us,” Rizq Ashour, 53, a survivor of the bombing, told Middle East Eye. 

“What do they want from us? They direct us to this safe zone and we come here then they bomb us,” he added. 

“They have no humanity.” 

The Israeli military admitted bombing the makeshift camp in Khan Younis’s “humanitarian zone”, claiming they were targeting a Hamas member. 

Ashour said those killed were civilians.  

Kamal Adwan under attack 

Meanwhile, Israeli troops continued to besiege the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza as air strikes heavily pounded the area around it. 

On Monday, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the hospital, told MEE that on Sunday tanks and bulldozers approached the western gate under cover of heavy gunfire directed at the facility. 

Bombing did not stop throughout the night, he said, destroying homes and surrounding buildings. 

“Bullets penetrated the intensive care unit, the maternity department, and the specialised surgery department,” Abu Safiya explained. 

He added that one of the generators was targeted and completely put out of service. 

'Bullets penetrated the intensive care unit'

- Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, Kamal Adwan hospital director

There are currently 91 hospitalised patients, including adults, children, and women inside the hospital, who are receiving the minimum level of care, according to Abu Safiya. 

“The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments, and the staff,” the doctor said.

“This is a serious and extremely horrifying situation. The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace us.”

The death toll in Gaza is now over 45,300 since 7 October 2023, with more than 107,000 wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday. 

According to the UN, 70 percent of the victims are children and women.