The air raids come as Palestinians in Rafah prepare for an offensive that aid agencies fear could cause huge losses.
Israel carried out airstrikes in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing dozens of people, health officials said, as Palestinians prepare for a major offensive against the densely populated urban area.
There have been conflicting reports on the death toll from the predawn strikes on Monday.
The AFP news agency reported that the strikes killed 52 people. Reuters reported that at least 67 people were killed. Both media outlets cited health officials in Gaza.
Israeli strikes hit 14 homes and three mosques in Rafah, according to Palestinian officials.
However, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Arab colleagues reported that at least 63 people were killed in the mosque strikes. A Hamas press release claimed that more than 100 people had been killed in the city.
“Israel officially continues to target civilians and shift the war to Rafah to force the population to move under bombardment,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on X.
“The recent occupation massacres testify to the validity of international warnings and fears of catastrophic results from the extension of the war to Rafah,” the ministry added.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates // The occupation #massacre in Rafah is proof of the validity of the warnings about the catastrophic dangers of its invasion.
Netanyahu commits mass killings with a mentality of vengeance, not victory, and inconsistent with… pic.twitter.com/cbuS7iaZr9
— State of Palestine – MAE 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) February 12, 2024
‘Explode’
The Israeli military said it had struck a number of “terrorist targets” in the Shaboura district of Rafah and that the strikes had ended.
He also announced that during a night operation in Rafah, he had rescued two prisoners captured by Hamas on October 7.
Military officials said the captives, named Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har, were in good condition.
Hamas has warned that an Israeli ground attack in Rafah would “blow up” negotiations to free the group’s remaining prisoners in Gaza.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday to continue the offensive.
“Only continued military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our hostages,” he said in a statement.
The strikes on Rafah come as Israel prepares to launch a major offensive that humanitarian agencies fear would lead to significant civilian casualties in Gaza’s last relatively safe area.
About 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza’s population, have gathered in Rafah to escape Israeli bombing, which has reduced much of the rest of the enclave to rubble.
Hamas condemned Israel for the attacks, saying they represent an “expansion of the scope of the massacres it is committing against our people.”
“The attack of the Nazi occupying army on the city of Rafah this evening… which has claimed the lives of more than a hundred martyrs so far, is considered a continuation of the genocidal war and attempts of forced displacement that it is carrying out against our Palestinian people. “, the group said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden on Sunday warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch an offensive on Rafah without a “credible and enforceable plan” to ensure the safety of people taking refuge in the city.
Netanyahu has promised “safe passage” to the Palestinians in Rafah, but the lack of clarity over evacuation plans has raised fears they could be pushed towards Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, stoking tensions with Cairo.
Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday that “there’s plenty of room” north of Rafah and that’s “where we’re going to direct them,” without specifying which part of Gaza it would be safe to evacuate to.
