The strikes on Rafah took place hours before Egypt was expected to host Hamas leaders to discuss prospects for a cease-fire agreement with Israel
At least 30 Palestinians, including five children, were killed and many others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting three homes in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Monday, according to medical sources.
The victims were taken to Kuwaiti and Mohammed Yousef El-Najar hospitals in Rafah.
Palestinians stand on a balcony of a damaged house at the site of an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 29, 2024. (Reuters Photo)
The first strike targeted a house belonging to the Al-Khatib family in the Jneina neighborhood, resulting in three fatalities, including a child and several injuries.
The second airstrike targeted a house belonging to the Al-Khawaja family in the Shabora refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians, including a baby and injuring others.
A Palestinian woman holds a child in a damaged house at the site of an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Resistant Group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 29, 2024. (Reuters Photo)
Ten Palestinians, including three children, were also killed, and several others were injured in a third airstrike targeting a house belonging to the Abu Taha family in the Salam neighborhood.
New Gaza cease-fire talks expected in Cairo
The strikes on Rafah, where more than one million people have sought refuge from months of Israeli bombardment, took place hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of Hamas to discuss prospects for a cease-fire agreement with Israel.
The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry gives a speech in the capital Cairo, on July 24, 2022 (AFP)
Speaking on Monday at a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Egypt was hopeful about a proposal for a truce and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip. Still, it was waiting for a response on the plan from Israel and Hamas.
“We are hopeful the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides, has tried to extract moderation from both sides, and we are waiting to have a final decision,” Shoukry said.
When asked about the new round of talks in Cairo, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters: “Things look better this time,” but he declined to say whether an agreement was imminent.
Palestinian children inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 27, 2024. (Reuters Photo)
Israel has intensified airstrikes on Rafah, despite international outcry over potential mass casualties. The southern city hosts over a million people displaced from the war in Gaza.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza. Its six-month-long military operation has now killed 34,488 Palestinians, 34 of them in the past 24 hours and wounded 77,643, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The war has displaced most of the 2.3 million population and laid much of the enclave to waste.
