At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza. Occupier Israel carried out this attack in the early hours of today Thursday. Fighting is currently ongoing in several other areas of Gaza.
The news agency Reuters reported this news citing doctors in Gaza.
Israel launched an offensive in Rafah a day after taking control of the Gaza Strip and a buffer zone bordering Egypt and taking control of the entire land border with Gaza.
Israeli forces say they have blocked a Hamas weapons smuggling route into Gaza by seizing the buffer zone.
Sources of doctors in Gaza said that the dead 12 Palestinians were civilians. They were trying to recover the body of a civilian in the center of Rafah city. They were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Many others were injured in this attack.
Doctors also said another Palestinian civilian was killed in an airstrike in the al-Shati refugee camp west of densely populated Gaza City.
Israel is talking about clashes in southern, central and northern Gaza. But it did not comment on the deaths in the airstrikes in Rafah, a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s operation in Rafah continues despite the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordering a halt to the attack. Israeli forces said they were trying to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue hostages.
The ICJ also called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Out of this, 53 people have been killed in the last 24 hours.
Israel launched a counter-attack after Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year. According to Israeli estimates, 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attacks and more than 250 Israelis were kidnapped by Hamas.
An Israeli soldier was killed in fighting in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said. And 292 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground operation in Gaza began on October 20 last year.