The northern town in the Gaza Strip, along with Beit Hanoun and Jabalya, was one of the areas that witnessed almost relentless aerial bombardment coupled with heavy artillery shelling. Shuja’iah, located in Gaza City’s east, was also battered.
An Israeli army spokesperson said on Friday the pre-dawn offensive included 160 warplanes that took off from six airbases and used about 450 missiles and shells to raid 150 targets within 40 minutes.
Jonathan Conricus said the attack was aimed at destroying an “underground tunnel system” in Gaza.
But Abedrabbo al-Attar, a resident of Beit Lahia, told Al Jazeera the raids targeted civilians.
“We left our home screaming after the house [that Lamya and the children were in] next to us was destroyed,” the 40-year-old father of six said.
“We thought we were all going to die. There were no resistance fighters in the area, and Israel bombed everything, more than 50 raids nonstop.”
Al-Attar said his family and his brother’s family walked on foot some 8km (4 miles) before reaching an UNRWA school opposite the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.