An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.Israel's war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East, notably between Israel and Iran in recent weeks. Now attention is returning to Rafah, which hosts more than half of Gaza's population of about 2.3 million, most of them displaced by fighting elsewhere.The strike late Friday hit Rafah's western Tel Sultan neighborhood, according to Gaza's civil defense. At al-Najjar hospital, site of the main morgue, relatives sobbed and hugged white-shrouded children's bodies. "Hamza my beloved. Your hair looks so pretty," a mourning grandmother said.
The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said. Barhoum lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their five-year-old daughter, Alaa."This is a world devoid of all human values and morals," Barhoum told The Associated Press, crying as he gently rocked Alaa's body. "They bombed a house full of displaced people, women and children. The only martyrs were women and children."Israel has insisted for months that it plans a ground offensive into Rafah, where it says many remaining Hamas militants are holed up, despite calls for restraint from the international community including Israel's staunchest ally, the United States.Some Palestinians left an area of Rafah near the border with Egypt on Saturday after receiving an evacuation alert from the Israeli army. "Guys, they will strike at 3.40. It is happening. What time is it now?" one said. Minutes later, a strike hit. It was not immediately known whether anyone was killed.
