Fatalities reported as Israeli airstrike hits house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Several people were killed and others injured, including children, late Sunday as an Israeli airstrike targeted a house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

The airstrike completely destroyed the house of Al Gharib family in the city, resulting in deaths and injuries, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

No official Palestinian figures have been released detailing the number of casualties resulting from the airstrike.

Israel's Cabinet has recently discussed an "evacuation" plan for Palestinians from Rafah as part of preparations for a potential incursion, despite international warnings that such a move could lead to massacres against hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio