Palestinian health authorities: Nine killed in Israeli attack on Rafah

The attack took place late Friday in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, according to the Gaza Strip Civil Defense. The bodies of six children, two women and a man were brought to Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital in the city, according to the hospital’s records.

Ahmed Barhoum informs the AP news agency that Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children were killed. Barhoum is related to the family. He says that he himself lost his wife Rawan Radwan and their five-year-old daughter Alaa.

– This is a world devoid of human values ​​and morality, says Barhoum to the news agency.

– They bombed a house full of people who had been displaced, women and children, he says.

Despite calls for restraint from the international community, including America’s closest ally the United States, the Israeli government is adamant that it will carry out an offensive with ground forces in Rafah. More than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million inhabitants currently live in the city, which is located at the border crossing with Egypt.

So far this offensive has not been launched, but Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes once morest the city.

So far, at least 34,049 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health authorities. The war broke out when Hamas and other militant groups attacked Israel on October 7, an attack that killed around 1,140 people.

Israel believes Hamas is to blame for civilians being killed, and says it is happening because the group mixes with the civilian population.