RAFAH, Gaza Strip – An Israeli airstrike on a house in the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital officials said on Saturday, as Israel continued its nearly seven-month offensive into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel’s war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Iran, in recent weeks. Now attention turns to Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of around 2.3 million people are sheltering, many of them displaced by fighting elsewhere.
Relatives sobbed and hugged the shrouded bodies of children at al-Najjar hospital. “Hamza my beloved. Your hair looks so beautiful,” said a grieving grandmother.
The fatal victims included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, said his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum. Barhoum lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and his 5-year-old daughter, Alaa.
“This is a world devoid of all human and moral values,” Barhoum told The Associated Press, crying as he cradled Alaa’s body. “The only martyrs were women and children.”
Israel has insisted for months that it is planning a ground offensive in Rafah, where it says many of the remaining Hamas militants are hiding, despite calls for restraint from the international community, including Israel’s staunchest ally, the United States.
Some Palestinians left an area of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, on Saturday after receiving an evacuation warning from the Israeli army. “Guys, they are going to attack at 3:40 pm. Is happening. What time is it?” one said. Minutes later, a blow struck. It was not immediately known if anyone was killed.
Also on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in the Bureji urban refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least one man and wounding two others, according to officials at the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital, where an AP journalist saw the victims.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack on October 7th in southern Israel, carried out by Hamas and other militant groups, which left around 1,200 people dead, the vast majority of them civilians, and saw around 250 being killed. kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Israel says about 130 hostages remain in Gaza, although more than 30 have died.
Frustration continues among many in Israel, and thousands of anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv have again called for new elections and a deal to free the remaining hostages. “We don’t know what else to do, so we are here crying and screaming for help,” said one protester, Iris Milnar.
The number of Palestinians killed in the war is at least 34,049, with 76,901 injured, the Gaza Health Ministry said, adding that the bodies of 37 people killed by Israeli strikes had been taken to hospitals in the past 24 hours. Hamas-run health authorities do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count, but say at least two-thirds are children and women.
Israel blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying it is integrated into the population.
The war caused an escalation of regional tensions. On Friday, Israel and archenemy Iran played down an apparent Israeli air strike near a key air base and nuclear facility in central Iran, indicating they were backing away from what could have become an all-out war. A week ago, Iran fired an unprecedented barrage of missiles at Israel, after an alleged Israeli attack killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian consulate in Syria.
Israel continues to clash with Iranian proxies, often negotiating rocket and drone strikes across the Lebanese-Israeli border with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have launched attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, in what they call solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Tensions are also high in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 12 bodies were removed on Saturday from the Nur Sham urban refugee camp, bringing the death toll to 13 since an Israeli military operation began in the area on Thursday night. He stated that they were killed “as a result of the aggression of the occupation”.
The Islamic Jihad militant group confirmed the deaths of three members. Another dead was a 15-year-old boy. The Israeli army said its forces killed 10 militants in and around the camp, while eight suspects were arrested. Nine of his officers and soldiers were injured, he said.
At least 469 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, the ministry said an ambulance driver was shot dead near the town of Sawiya as he tried to reach Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli settlers. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Mohammed Musa was shot in the chest. A wave of attacks on settlers began a week ago after an Israeli teenager went missing and was found dead.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffrey in Jerusalem contributed.
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