Children reported among dead after Israeli strikes near Gaza-Egypt border
Israel struck Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah early yesterday, Palestinian media reported, a day after European nations called for the city – the last refuge of a million displaced people – to be spared.
Two children were among the dead after a strike on a nursery in Al Salah neighbourhood, where people had sought shelter, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
An Israeli strike on a Rafah house killed 14 women and children on Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Air strikes were also reported in the southern city of Khan Younis, as well as Deir Al Balah and Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
On Saturday, EU officials urged Israel not to attack Rafah, where about a million displaced Gazans from across the enclave have gathered after fleeing from the war.
EU Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Borrell said the attacks were creating a “very dire situation”, while German Minister of State for Europe Anna Luehrmann “warned emphatically” against an assault on the city.
“There are one million people in the south who have been displaced progressively against the Egyptian border,” said Mr Borrell.
“[Israel] claimed that they were safe zones but, in fact, what we see is that the bombing affecting the civilian population continues.”
US, Egyptian and Qatari officials have been working for weeks to finalise an agreement on a pause in fighting in return for the release of the estimated 132 Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Domestic calls for a truce have also continued in Israel, where thousands rallied on Saturday night in Tel Aviv and other cities to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement.
“It’s either a deal or a death sentence,” said former army spokesman Avi Benayahu.
“We’ll need to free prisoners, we’ll need to have a long ceasefire,” Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted him as saying. “Hamas will still be there and Israel will still be there.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began another regional tour yesterday, aiming to secure a hostage deal and an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is also in the region to discuss a postwar future and the tension between Israel and Hezbollah.
“There will be a discussion with his regional counterparts, especially Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, to see how to restart a political perspective in the region,” a spokesman for France’s Foreign Ministry said.
Israel has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is “completely eradicated”.
The militant group has said a deal has not yet been finalised and it needs more time to announce its position.
On Saturday, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon, said a proposal had been received but some details were missing.