GAZA STRIP: On Wednesday, Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah, adding to the growing concerns of the over a million Palestinians taking refuge in the final area of safety on the southern border of the Gaza Strip about the possibility of an impending ground invasion.
Health officials reported that 11 members of a single household perished in one of the attacks.
In the more than five months that Israel and Hamas have been at war, the health ministry stated on Wednesday that at least 32,490 people have died there.
According to a ministry statement, the toll includes at least 76 dead in the last 24 hours. Since the Israeli incursion started on October 7, 74,889 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Since last week, there has been intense fighting near the largest hospital in the territory, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and more lately, near two hospitals, Al-Amal and Nasser, in Khan Yunis, the key southern city.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli tanks and armored vehicles have also gathered surrounding Nasser Hospital. They added that although rounds had been fired, no raid had yet been carried out.
Thousands were locked inside, and "their lives are in danger," according to a warning from the Palestinian Red Crescent.
With Israel and Hamas blaming each other, negotiations in Qatar for a peace and prisoner release agreement, mediated by US and Egyptian officials, have not yet produced a resolution.
Health officials reported that 11 members of a single family perished in one of the attacks on Wednesday.
Observing from below while a neighbor assisted a rescue worker in lowering a victim in a black body bag from a higher floor, Mussa Dhaheer claimed he had woken up to the bomb, kissed his scared daughter, and hurried outside to discover the devastation. Among the deceased were his mother, 62, and father, 75.
"I'm at a loss for what to do. I am at a loss for words. I'm baffled by what transpired. My parents. "My father arrived from Gaza City with his friends who were displaced," he said to Reuters. "All of them were together, and then all of them vanished like dust in an instant."
Jamil Abu Houri, near a different bomb site, claimed that Israel was using the increased airstrikes as a means of mocking a UN Security Council resolution from last week that called for an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas.
Next, he worries about a ground invasion of Rafah, which Israel has been threatening to carry out for weeks despite Washington, its closest friend, pleading with it not to cause a humanitarian catastrophe.
"They have threatened us with an incursion, the bombing has risen, and they claim they have permission to go into Rafah. The Security Council is where? stated Abu Houri.
"Observe our young ones. Take a look at our kids. Where ought we to go? Where ought we to go? According to Gaza health officials, four Palestinians, including a lady and a kid, were killed and others locals were injured in another Israeli bombing that occurred in Rafah on Wednesday afternoon.
Health officials reported that an airstrike on a residence in the northern part of the enclave, just west of Gaza City, claimed the lives of seven individuals.
US and UK media outlets are sanctioned
Recent events include the imposition of sanctions by US and UK authorities on two individuals and three businesses associated with the popular media outlet Gaza Now for what is purportedly Hamas-supportive fundraising activities.
Gaza Now, a prominent Telegram channel with over 1.8 million subscribers, and its founder, Mustafa Ayash, began raising money for Hamas after October 7, according to a statement released by the Treasury Department.
The UK Treasury released a statement saying, "The UK Government has announced a full asset freeze against two individuals suspected of providing financial support for Gaza Now."
They said, "All money and financial resources in the UK that Sultana and Ayash own or control have been frozen."
