GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that an overnight Israeli strike on the Khan Yunis refugee camp killed at least 11 people, including three babies up to a year old.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported 11 killed “after the bombardment of the Al-Bayram family home in the Khan Yunis camp” in southern Gaza at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT).
Bassal told AFP that eight of the dead had been identified and were all from the same extended family, including a boy and girl, both one-year-olds, and a month-old baby.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the strike to AFP, saying the attack targeted a “terrorist Hamas member”, without giving further details.
At the scene, rescue workers and residents searched through the rubble with their bare hands, illuminating the destruction with hand-held torches.
Gaza humanitarian work on ‘verge of total collapse’: Red Cross
One rescuer carried the lifeless body of an infant from the wreckage, footage captured by an AFP journalist showed.
Fayka Abu Hatab, a resident in a nearby building, said she “saw a bright light, then there was an explosion, and dust covered the entire area”.
“We couldn’t see anything, it all went dark,” Abu Hatab said.
“All of our windows were destroyed, our rooms were destroyed, the neighbours’ house was destroyed,” she added.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that at least 2,396 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,495.
On Friday the civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 42 people across the war-ravaged territory, which has been under a total Israeli blockade since March 2.
Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza, saying Hamas had diverted supplies. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure the fighters into releasing hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
UN agencies have urged Israel to lift restrictions, saying that Gazans were experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and warning of famine.
