Updated Palestinians flee Rafah as Israel renews assault on south Gaza
Eid of Sadness’: Gaza marks festival amid Israeli bombings, lack of food
By Lyndal Rowlands, Nils Adler, Stephen Quillen, Alice Speri and Umut Uras
Israeli forces attack Rafah in southern Gaza and kill two people, hours after issuing a forced evacuation order for all Palestinians to leave the area.
People started moving north from Rafah by car and on foot after Israel ordered all residents to evacuate to the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, a so-called “safe zone” that has repeatedly come under Israeli attack and lacks essentials for displaced people.
At least 80 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 48 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry, raising the number of those killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18 to 1,001.
Palestinians held funerals for 15 medics and emergency responders killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, after their bodies and mangled ambulances were found buried in an impromptu mass grave, apparently plowed over by Israeli military bulldozers.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 50,357 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 114,400 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. Gaza’s Government Media Office updated its death toll about two months ago to more than 61,700, saying that thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
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