GAZA: At least eight people have been killed in overnight Israeli attacks on houses in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, local media reported on Thursday.
Earlier Palestinian news agency Wafa, seven people were killed in brutal Israeli attack on Rafah. According to media reports three children were also killed in the strike. Wafa reported that a woman was killed in a separate attack on a house in the Janina neighbourhood east of Rafah.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has reported around 704 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Death Toll in Rafah Strike Rises to Eight
The UN said that on average, there were 4 attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers against local people of Palestine in the six months since October 7.
Over 700 assaults led to casualties in 69 reported incidents, damage to Palestinians’ property in 558 incidents, and casualties in 77 cases.
UNOCHA said that in total, 17 innocent Palestinians have been killed and more than 400 wounded within this context. It added that more than 9,900 trees were damaged, and 40 houses were destroyed by Israeli settlers.
Earlier, world powers strongly condemned deadly Israeli airstrike on aid workers in the Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden has called the US-based Jose Andres, who heads the World Central Kitchen, to say that he was “heartbroken” over the strike, the White House Press Secretary said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the attack highlighted the “disregard for world humanitarian law and for the protection of aid workers.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked a “swift and impartial probe” and asked Israel to do more to protect innocent civilian population.
The UK summoned the Israeli ambassador to express its “unequivocal condemnation”. Stephane Sejourne, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs said that “nothing justifies such a tragedy”. He said that “protecting humanitarian workers is a moral and lawful imperative that everyone must follow.
