Israeli army destroys house in southern Gaza with residents inside

By Qais Omar Darwesh Omar

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israeli aircraft destroyed a house in the southern Gaza Strip with its residents still inside, local officials said Saturday.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip said that "the house was bombed while the family who owned it was inside.”

There were a number of dead and injured underneath the rubble, the ministry added.

The ministry said civil defense and ambulance crews are working to "recover the bodies and evacuate the wounded."

A week ago Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began last Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – 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.

That response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as Isreal ordering over 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the south in less than 24 hours.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi