Several casualties reported in Israeli airstrike on Rafah


GAZA CITY, Palestine

Several Palestinians were reportedly killed and injured on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip.


Israeli aircraft targeted a house belonging to the Ashour family in the Nasr neighborhood, resulting in the death and injury of several Palestinians, witnesses told Anadolu.


The airstrike also caused extensive damage to nearby homes, which have been housing a number of displaced individuals, they said.


The witnesses said that medical and civil defense teams are still conducting rescue operations to extract victims and injured individuals from the rubble of the targeted house.


Israel insists on launching a ground offensive in Rafah, claiming that it is "the last stronghold of Hamas," despite increasing international warnings of catastrophic repercussions, in light of the presence of about 1.4 million displaced people there.

Israel has killed more than 34,300 Palestinians since an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 hostages taken.


The conflict 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. 



Israel is 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 Rania Abu Shamala