Israeli airstrike kills 5 Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza

By Mohammed Majed

GAZA, Palestine (AA) - Five Palestinians were killed on Sunday evening in an Israeli airstrike that targeted an inhabited residence in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip, medical sources told Anadolu.

The sources said that the strike on the house in Rafah resulted in five fatalities, including three people who had recently moved from Gaza City to Rafah in the past few days.

While official statistics on the number of displaced casualties in the ongoing bombardment of the region are not available, medical sources informed Anadolu that nearly 100 displaced people had lost their lives in the past two days.

On Sunday, Israel reiterated its call for residents of Gaza to evacuate their homes in the northern strip and head to south, as announced by Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee via X, despite international warnings about the consequences of displacement.

Last weekend, in a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained military push against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers' growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the southern region.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala