Doctors mourned the unborn child of a Gaza woman killed in Israeli attacks. (File)
Rafah, Palestinian Territories:
Eight sleeping children killed in one attack, doctors who fought but failed to save an unborn child – these were the stories told by Gaza medics on Thursday as Israel stepped up its airstrikes.
Gaza’s Hamas-led government said 1,524 of 3,785 people have been killed since Israel launched a brutal barrage on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Grief-stricken parents carrying the bodies of children in white shrouds through the streets of Gaza have become a common sight since the war began.
Doctors say they are fighting a losing battle against a lack of medicine, water and fuel to keep hospitals running.
Eight children between the ages of two and five were among 10 people from the same family killed early Wednesday in an airstrike on a house in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, relatives said.
“The children were sleeping when they destroyed the house,” said their 67-year-old grandfather, Abu Mohammad Wafi al-Bakri.
– Father escapes –
Diyala, Ayman, Hamada, Zaher, Uday, Jamal, Nabil and Acil all came from one extended family and all slept on the ground floor. It took an hour after the raid to find their bodies, rescuers said.
“None of my children were connected to Palestinian organizations and there were no men in the house at the time,” said Jihad al-Bakri, father of three of the children.
He had left his house an hour before the rocket hit to try to find water.
At Najjar Hospital in Rafah, doctors mourned early Thursday the unborn child of a woman killed in a rocket attack.
Arij Marwan al-Banna, seven months pregnant, and her daughters, Sarah and Samya, both under 10 years old, were killed on the spot, medical sources told AFP.
Banna had fled from northern Gaza to her parents’ home after Israel warned its 1.1 million residents to move south.
Doctors operated on her, but could not save her child.
She was posthumously named Fatima and her small body bag was placed on top of her mother’s, doctors said.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had carried out hundreds of airstrikes in 24 hours, targeting Hamas’ military infrastructure.
Terrified Gazans have flocked to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only possible escape route from the besieged area, but it has remained closed.
Dozens of people waited desperately about 100 meters from the crossing, hoping it would reopen to let aid in and refugees out.
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday after his visit to Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow some food, water and medicine into Gaza. He said some deliveries could take place on Friday.
Wary residents stayed away from the gates, fearing they would become another target for Israel’s brutal attacks after the border crossing was hit four times last week.
“I have been waiting with my family for three days in a house ten minutes away. We are ready with our bags, but we just don’t know if and when the crossing will open,” says Mohammed, a 40-year-old working man. for an Italian group.
Majed, 43, who works for a German organisation, told AFP: “I came alone this morning. When the border crossing opens, I will get my wife and family – they are ready.”
He estimated that about 400 foreigners, dual nationals and staff of international organizations were waiting near Rafah.
The Hamas government’s media office said it had no details about the aid deliveries. It said the border crossing’s head of operations, Fuad Abu Btihan, had been killed in the Israeli attacks.
Israel stepped up its airstrikes after Biden flew home and clouds of black smoke rose again over Gaza City.
“It was hard for three nights, but tonight was the hardest,” 60-year-old Umm Mohamed Abu Ziada told AFP.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
