A ‘torrent of raids’ unleashed on Gaza neighbourhood

A “torrent of Israeli air raids” was unleashed on Gaza's Karama neighbourhood late on Tuesday, the Palestinian interior ministry has said, with footage on local media showing explosions illuminating the sky.

Local media reported the area was attacked with thermobaric weaponry (vacuum bombs) and white phosphorus, the use of which in civilian areas is considered a war crime. Middle East Eye could not independently verify these claims.

The bombing was so intense that it destroyed roads leading to the neighbourhood, preventing ambulances from reaching the wounded, the Gaza-based interior ministry said.

The ministry added that a large number of people are still trapped under rubble. The Karama neighbourhood contains a number of high-rise residential buildings.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Monday that “Israel appears to be using thermobaric weaponry (vacuum bombs)“. It added that it has heard several testimonies, but yet to be verified, that the Israeli army “used tightly controlled white phosphorus munitions in areas in the southern Gaza Strip”.