Stay updates | 6 killed in a single day in an obvious Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Gaza

A minimum of six folks had been killed in an obvious Israeli airstrike on a house within the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah in a single day. Tons of of hundreds of Palestinians have crammed into Rafah, one of many areas the place Israel has advised folks to hunt refuge. However Israeli forces proceed to strike all elements of the besieged territory.

Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant says a number of thousand Hamas fighters stay in northern Gaza, the place complete neighborhoods have been blasted into rubble. Heavy combating can also be underway in central Gaza and the southern metropolis of Khan Younis, the place Israeli officers say Hamas’ navy construction remains to be largely intact.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault from Gaza into southern Israel killed round 1,200 folks, and a few 250 others had been taken hostage. Israel’s air, floor and sea assault in Gaza has killed greater than 22,400 folks, two-thirds of them girls and kids, in accordance with the Well being Ministry within the Hamas-ruled territory. The depend doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

At present:

— Israeli protection minister lays out imaginative and prescient for subsequent steps of Gaza warfare.

— Blinken heads to the Mideast once more as fears of regional battle surge.

— Israel’s Mossad chief vows to search out Hamas members.

— The mom and American uncle of a U.S. service member are rescued from Gaza in a secret operation.

— Discover extra of AP’s protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

This is what’s occurring within the warfare:

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — A minimum of six folks had been killed in an obvious Israeli airstrike on a house within the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah in a single day. Officers on the native morgue say the strike occurred late Thursday, simply earlier than midnight.

Tons of of hundreds of Palestinians have crammed into Rafah, one of many areas the place Israel has advised folks to hunt refuge. However Israeli forces proceed to strike all elements of the besieged territory.

Sohad al-Derbashi, whose sister was killed within the strike, stated, “They had been harmless civilians who had nothing to do with what’s going on.” She says the person who was the obvious goal of the strike was a civil servant within the Hamas-run authorities and never a fighter.

Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed because the begin of the warfare, in accordance with the Well being Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. Some 1.9 million folks, about 85% of Gaza’s inhabitants, have fled their properties, and U.N. officers say one in 4 Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing famine-like hunger.

The warfare was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel, through which some 1,200 folks had been killed, largely civilians, and round 250 had been taken hostage.

JERUSALEM — A neighborhood that was attacked throughout Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel says one among its residents, who was taken hostage, has died in captivity.

The Kibbutz Nir Oz neighborhood didn’t give a explanation for dying Friday for Tamir Adar, 38. Of some 250 folks captured throughout Hamas’ assault, round 80 had been taken from Nir Oz alone, out of a inhabitants of round 400.

Tamir’s grandmother, 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, was additionally kidnapped by militants that day. She was amongst greater than 100 hostages launched throughout a weeklong cease-fire in November.

The Israeli authorities says militants are nonetheless holding 113 hostages, together with 19 girls and two youngsters beneath the age of 5, in addition to the our bodies of 24 others.

Hamas has stated it is not going to launch any extra hostages till Israel ends its navy offensive and withdraws from Gaza. Israel has vowed to crush the militant group and return all of the captives.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Friday condemned the US’ strike in central Baghdad that killed a high-ranking militia commander as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. He reiterated current requires withdrawal of U.S. troops from the nation.

A U.S. protection official confirmed Thursday that U.S. forces carried out the strike, saying that Abu Taqwa was focused as a result of he was actively concerned in assaults on U.S. personnel. Because the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas warfare on Oct. 7, a bunch of Iranian-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out greater than 100 assaults on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. The group has stated the assaults are in retaliation for Washington’s help of Israel and that they goal to push U.S. forces out of Iraq.

Sudani stated Friday that the U.S. had bypassed the Iraqi authorities, which is “the physique licensed to impose the regulation.” He added that the Fashionable Mobilization Drive “signify an official presence affiliated with the state … and an integral a part of our armed forces” and that “assaults concentrating on our safety forces transcend the spirit and letter of the mandate that created the worldwide coalition,” referring to a U.S.-led coalition that assisted within the battle towards the Islamic State militant group and maintains forces in Iraq.

He stated his authorities is following up on procedures that might finish within the coalition’s withdrawal from Iraq.