An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people — six of them children — hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel's war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in an already volatile Middle East.
The strike late Friday hit a residential building in the western Tel Sultan neighborhood of the city of Rafah, according to Gaza's civil defense. The bodies of the six children, two women and a man were taken to Rafah's Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, the hospital's records showed.
At the hospital, relatives cried and hugged the bodies of the children, wrapped in white shrouds, as others comforted them.
The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said. Barhoum also lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their 5-year-old daughter Alaa.
"A Heartbreaking Scene in Rafah"
Barhoum's voice cracked as he spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday morning, tears streaming down his face as he held Alaa's lifeless body. "This is a world devoid of all human values and morals," he said. "They bombed a house full of displaced people, women and children. There were no martyrs but women and children."
There were no reported casualties from a second overnight strike in the city.
Rafah, a city bordering Egypt, is currently home to over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, most of whom have been displaced by conflicts in other parts of the territory.
Despite international pleas for restraint, including from the United States, Israel has expressed its intention to launch a ground offensive in the city, citing the presence of Hamas militants.
Escalating Tensions
While a ground operation has not yet been initiated, the Israeli military has conducted multiple airstrikes in and around Rafah.
The conflict was triggered by a raid into southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups on Oct. 7, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths, with the majority being civilians. Around 250 individuals were abducted and taken to Gaza. Israel claims that about 130 hostages are still in Gaza, with over 30 confirmed dead either during the initial raid or while in captivity.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday the bodies of 37 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 68 wounded, it said. The latest figures bring the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 34,049, and the number of wounded to 76,901, the ministry said. Although the Hamas-run health authorities do not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their count, they say at least two thirds have been children and women.
The war has sent regional tensions spiraling, leading to a dramatic eruption of violence between Israel and its archenemy Iran that threatened to escalate into a full-blown war.
On Friday, both Iran and Israel played down an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran, indicating the two sides were pulling back from what could have become an all-out conflict. Over the past several weeks, an alleged Israeli strike killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian consulate in Syria and was followed by an unprecedented Iranian missile barrage on Israel.
Israel has also faced off with the Hezbollah militant group, an Iranian proxy operating from Lebanon, with the two sides there frequently trading rocket and drone attacks across the Lebanese-Israeli border. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have also joined the fray, launching strikes against merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Reports of heightened tensions have emerged from the occupied West Bank, following an Israeli military incursion into the Nur Shams refugee camp on Friday. The raid resulted in the deaths of at least four Palestinians, as confirmed by the Israeli military, Palestinian health officials, and a militant group.
Among those killed, Palestinian health authorities reported the death of a 15-year-old boy due to Israeli gunfire. The Islamic Jihad militant group acknowledged the loss of three members, including a local military commander. In response to the operation, four Israeli soldiers sustained minor injuries.
Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, revealed that its fighters were involved in intense gunfights with Israeli forces in Tulkarem, situated near Nur Shams. However, specific details about the clashes were not immediately disclosed. In solidarity with the camp, residents of Tulkarem initiated a general strike on Saturday, leading to the closure of various establishments.
The Palestinian Authority, which governs certain areas of the West Bank, has limited control over northern towns like Tulkarem and Jenin. These regions frequently witness the presence of militant factions such as Islamic Jihad, resulting in frequent confrontations with Israeli troops during military operations.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, over 460 Palestinians have lost their lives due to Israeli gunfire in the West Bank, as reported by Palestinian health authorities. Israel regularly conducts incursions into towns and urban areas within the unstable region. The casualties have not only been militants, but also individuals throwing stones and innocent bystanders. Additionally, some have been victims of assaults by Israeli settlers.
