At least 93 people have been killed in the attack, according to the civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal to AFP. Around half of the dead are reported to be women and children.
When I went out after sunrise, I saw people pulling out bodies, limbs, and injured from the rubble, says Rabie al-Shandagly, who sought shelter from the war in a school in Beit Lahia, to the news agency.
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell writes in a post on X that at least 20 children are reported to have been killed in the attack.
"Today's attack on children has in a scandalous way become the norm in Gaza, where on average over 67 children are killed or injured every day", writes Russell.
Another 40 people are said to be trapped under the destroyed building and the death toll is feared to rise.
The US government calls the attack "appalling".
We are deeply concerned about the loss of civilian lives in this incident. This was an appalling event with an appalling result, says the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Three weeks of siege
The destruction is enormous, as shown by pictures taken after the attack. The pictures are gruesome: body parts sticking out of the rubble, a charred body hanging out of a window. Survivors carrying blood-stained blankets, others sitting apathetically in the ruins of their homes. Bodies wrapped in white sheets lie lined up on the street.
The five-story building in Beit Lahia was attacked early on Tuesday morning. Reports suggest that up to 200 people, many of them Palestinians fleeing the war, were in the building when it collapsed after the Israeli attack.
Israel says it is investigating the reports and hints that the death toll may be exaggerated, reports The Times of Israel. The military also claims that residents of Beit Lahia were urged to evacuate earlier in October.
"We stress again that this is an active combat zone", writes the military.
Another 18 people are reported to have been killed in an attack on Beit Lahia on Tuesday evening, according to the health department in Gaza. It is unclear if there are civilians among the dead.
Hospital overwhelmed
Beit Lahia, like nearby Beit Hanun and Jabalia, has been under Israeli siege since the beginning of October. This means that rescue efforts cannot reach those trapped under the rubble, reports several media outlets.
Several hospitals, including Kamal Adwan, have also been raided, where equipment has been destroyed and male medical staff have been taken away.
