Israeli airstrikes kill 24 in Rafah, Gaza Health Ministry says
Israeli airstrikes overnight Sunday into Monday killed 24 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
Two airstrikes late Sunday and early Monday targeted two houses in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which lies on the coastal enclave’s frontier with Egypt, the ministry said.
Most of the dead were women and children, according to the ministry and local reports.
More than 1 million residents of Gaza have been sheltering in the small city after fleeing their homes since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in October in response to a deadly attack by the group.
Israel has signaled that it plans a ground operation in the city to root out several thousand Hamas fighters and some of the group’s leaders hiding there amid growing fears over the safety of the displaced civilians.
Iranian-backed Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, triggered the war in Gaza when it staged a cross-border rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7. It killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, of whom more than 100 remain captive.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas-run health authority.