Israel pounds Gaza as fears grow of push into Rafah
Israel pressed its blistering assault in the Gaza Strip yesterday as fears grew of a push into Rafah, the southern city teeming with civilians uprooted by the nearly four-month war.
A constant barrage of air strikes and tank fire rocked Khan Yunis during the night, an AFP journalist said of the main city in southern Gaza that has been the focus of the Israeli offensive.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said more than 100 people were killed across the Palestinian territory overnight, mostly women and children. The Israeli army said its forces killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to
Rafah since the war’s outbreak, with tents cramming spaces along streets and in parks.
The city that had been home to 200,000 people now hosts more than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million population, the WHO said on Friday.
Witnesses in Rafah said 12 people were killed in an air strike on a house owned by the Hijazi family.
“They bombed without any warning,” said 45-year-old Bilal Jad, a neighbour whose house was damaged in the attack. “There’s no safe place anywhere. The air strikes are everywhere.”
Civilians who fled to Rafah have been pushed up against the border with Egypt, trying to avoid parts of the city exposed to the fighting in nearby Khan Yunis.
One of them, Abdulkarim Misbah, said he fled his home in Jabalia refugee camp in the north and reached Khan Yunis, only to be uprooted once more.
“We escaped last week from death in Khan Yunis, without bringing anything with us,” the 32-year-old said.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Yunis, which has pushed more and more people south.
“Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next,” said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had warned on Thursday that the military was set to train its sights on Rafah.