Survivors from Wednesday's Israeli airstrike on a UN clinic in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza described scenes of devastation, saying those killed were civilians, including children as young as 10 days old.
Witnesses recounted how families seeking shelter were caught in the strike, with no militants or weapons present at the site. Many were having breakfast when the explosion tore through the clinic, turning what was meant to be a place of safety into rubble.
"We are all civilian refugees here, no militants, no weapons. We were eating breakfast when the strike hit," said Hussain Abuelaish, who survived the attack.
Another eyewitness, Khaled Almadhoun, expressed grief over the loss of so many children.
"We are shocked by this disaster. Little children have been killed. The oldest among them was 10 years old, and the youngest just 10 days old. We have been searching through the rubble for their bodies, and all we can do is pray that Allah takes them into His care. They were all innocent civilians. There were no Hamas militants or weapons here," he said.
The attack killed at least 19 people, including nine children, according to the Palestinian health authorities.
The clinic, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), had been providing medical care and shelter for displaced families. The Israeli army later stated that the site was being used by Hamas as a command center, an accusation that Hamas rejected as baseless.
Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18 and resumed deadly air and ground assaults on the Palestinian enclave.
The renewed Israeli attacks have so far killed 1,163 Palestinians and injured 2,735 others, Gaza health authorities said Thursday.
The death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 has risen to 50,523, with 114,776 injured, the authorities said.
Survivors recount devastation as Israeli airstrike kills civilians at UN clinic in Gaza
An official from China's Ministry of Commerce told American enterprises on Sunday that the country will continue to protect the rights of foreign-invested enterprises in China, including those funded by the United States.
Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, made the remarks while hosting a roundtable meeting in Beijing with representatives from over 20 U.S.-funded enterprises, including Tesla, GE Healthcare, and Medtronic.
Speaking at the meeting, Ling said that despite the changes in the international situation, China's commitment to reform and opening up remains unwavering. Multilateralism is the inevitable choice for addressing the difficulties and challenges facing the world. China's door to opening up will only widen, and its policies regarding foreign investment have not changed and will not change.
The Ministry of Commerce will continue to provide protection for foreign-invested enterprises in China, including U.S.-funded enterprises, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-invested enterprises in accordance with the law, and actively promoting the resolution of issues raised by foreign-invested enterprises, according to the vice minister.
China has been all along, as it is now, and will continue to be an ideal, secure, and promising land for foreign investment, Ling noted.
Ling also stressed that the U.S., under various pretexts, has recently abused tariffs on all trading partners, including China, severely damaging the rules-based multilateral trade system and infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of various countries. The Chinese government strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has taken decisive countermeasures in response.
He pointed out that the root of the tariff issue lies in the U.S. It is hoped that U.S.-funded enterprises will trace the origin, clarify cause and effect, send rational voices, and take practical actions to jointly maintain the stability of the global supply chain and promote cooperation and mutual benefit.
These remarks were made as China announced countermeasures on Friday against the U.S. decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese exports, including the imposition of an additional 34-percent tariff on all products imported from the U.S. starting from April 10, as well as filing a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization regarding the U.S. "reciprocal tariffs".
China committed to protecting rights of foreign-funded enterprises: official
