Family of 6 killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

By Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi Duran, Nour Mahd Ali Abu Aisha and Halime Afra Aksoy

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - All members of a family of six were killed in an attack by Israeli warplanes on the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to local sources on Sunday, as fierce fighting continued a day after surprise attack by Hamas inside Israel.

Israeli warplanes targeted the house of the Shaban family in the Al-Nasr neighborhood in the West of Gaza city, killing the parents and their four children.

Israel also targeted houses, mosques and a radio center during its attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian authorities.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry said many civilians were trapped under the rubble of collapsed structures.

Hamas launched on Saturday Operation Al Aqsa Flood, saying its multifront attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. It said it fired rockets and captured many Israelis.

In retaliation, the Israeli army initiated Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said we are "at war." He called on Palestinian civilians in Gaza to leave as the Israeli military is going to turn "all Hamas hiding places into rubble."

At least 313 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 2,000 others injured in the attacks, according to medical sources in Gaza, while the Israeli death toll has climbed to 600.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz