GAZA CITY
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that 12 bodies of slain Palestinians have been extracted from under rubble in the southern city of Rafah, which continues to reel under Israeli airstrikes for the second day.
"Medical crews in Rafah managed to extract 12 bodies in Rafah and moved 50 injured people to the city's eastern districts," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
He went on to assert that dozens of wounded Palestinians in Rafah could not be reached due to the heavy Israeli bombardments.
The death toll from continuous Israeli airstrikes on Rafah has exceeded 150 Palestinians since the assault began on Friday morning, al-Qodra said.
He expected the death toll to rise as the Israeli shelling thus far shows no signs of abatement.
Israel has been pounding the southern city since Friday following the collapse of a 72-hour humanitarian truce with Palestinian factions.
Israel accused Hamas, Gaza's most prominent resistance movement, of violating the ceasefire, claiming that Hamas fighters had killed two soldiers and captured an officer in Rafah after the truce went into effect.
Hamas, for its part, said that the incident had occurred prior to the ceasefire and accused Israel of using the incident to "cover up its massacre" in Rafah.
Palestinian health officials in Rafah evacuated the city's largest hospital after it was shelled by Israel during the assault.
The intensity of the bombardments around the entire city made it impossible to flee the carnage, leaving shell-shocked families and ambulance vehicles trapped.
"I've seen wounded people bleeding to death on the street," Sohad Khedr said, her voice barely audible amid missiles' blasts. "The bombings intensify with every minute," she added.
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip with aerial, naval and ground assaults for nearly a month, with the stated aim of undermining rocket-firing capabilities by Palestinian factions.
The offensive has left at least 1650 Palestinians – mostly civilians – dead and nearly 9000 injured. The death toll from Israel's current offensive, dubbed "Protective Edge," has surpassed the combined total of two other major operations in the past six years, including 2008/9's "Operation Cast Lead" which killed at least 1500 Palestinians in three weeks.
According to Israeli figures, at least 63 soldiers have been killed in battles with Palestinian fighters in Gaza and three civilians by rocket fire.
By Ola Attalah
www.aa.com.tr/en
