Over 20 Killed In Gaza Refugee Camp Fire

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY (Worthy News) – Israel offered help after at least 21 people – including 10 children – were killed by a fire in a building in a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, officials said.

Ambulances rushed several injured people to local hospitals and Israel, which pledged to allow those needing medical treatment.

People were seen screaming outside the burning four-story residential complex in the
Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

With many feared inside, victims’ relatives were in the streets crying and praying. “It is very difficult, children and women burning without the possibility of saving them,” an eyewitness said.

The disaster sent shockwaves throughout the region, often marred by Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

However, on Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced that his staff would assist with “humanitarian evacuations of the injured to (Israeli) hospitals.”

While this tragedy was Gaza’s deadliest known fire incident in recent memory, there have been several deadly fires, often caused by candles, due to severe power shortages.

One resident who rushed to the scene said gasoline was stored in the building to “operate a generator.”

Critics have linked the shortages to the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel and Egypt as a security measure against militants there and internal Palestinian political disputes.

The Gaza Strip is home to 2.3 million people, one of the highest population densities in the world. Almost 600,000 refugees in Gaza are living in eight crowded camps, according to the United Nations.

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