Israeli airstrikes on houses in Rafah. 13 people died
Israeli airstrikes on houses in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip killed 13 people and injured many others, doctors said on Monday.
Hamas media reported the death toll at 15.
The attacks on Rafah, where more than a million people have taken shelter from months of Israeli bombing, came hours before Egypt was scheduled to host leaders of the Islamist group Hamas to discuss the prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Airstrike in Gaza City. Several people are dead
Additionally, in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli planes struck two houses, killing and injuring several people, health officials said.
Israel, which for weeks has been threatening to launch an all-out attack on the Rafah area, claims that its goal is to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there. The war was sparked by an attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli data, 1,200 people were killed and 253 were taken hostage.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, in a military operation that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, 66 of them in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza health authorities. The war led to the displacement of most of the 2.3 million inhabitants and the destruction of much of the enclave.
On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that only the United States could stop Israel from attacking the Gaza border town of Rafah, adding that the attack, which he expected within days, could force much of the Palestinian population to flee the enclave.
– We call on the United States of America to ask Israel not to launch an attack on Rafah. America is the only country that can stop Israel from committing this crime, Abbas said at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
