UPDATE - 5 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza’s Rafah

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; ADDS CHANGES

By Mohammad Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – At least five Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, a medical source told Anadolu.

Three people were killed when Israeli fighter jets carried out an attack targeting a group of civilians near a mosque in southern Rafah, the source said.

Massive destruction was reported in the area.

Two more people lost their lives and several others were injured in another strike on a house in eastern Rafah, the medical source said.

The Israeli army on Tuesday seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, a vital route for humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

The move came one day after the army issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered.

Israel has killed more than 34,900 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and injured over 78,500 others following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7, which claimed 1,200 lives.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar