Terrorist Israel pounds Gaza as more Rafah evacuations ordered, martyrs' toll at 34,971
RAFAH, Palestine (AFP) - Israeli strikes on Saturday hit parts of Gaza including Rafah where Israel expanded an evacuation order and the UN warned of "epic" disaster if an outright invasion of the crowded city occurs.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 34,971 people have been martyred during the war. The tally includes at least 28 martyrdom in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 78,641 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
AFP journalists, medics and witnesses reported strikes across the coastal territory, where the UN says humanitarian relief is blocked after Israeli troops defied international opposition and entered eastern Rafah this week, effectively shutting a key aid crossing and suspending traffic through another.
At least 21 people were killed during strikes in central Gaza and taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah city, a hospital statement said. Bodies covered in white lay on the ground in a courtyard of the facility. A man in a baseball cap leaned over one body bag, clasping a dust-covered hand that protruded. The feet of another corpse poked from under a blanket bearing the picture of a large teddy bear. In Rafah, witnesses reported intense air strikes near the crossing with Egypt, and AFP images showed smoke rising over the city. Other strikes occurred in north Gaza, witnesses said.
Israeli troops on Tuesday seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing -- through which all fuel passes into Gaza -- after ordering residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate.
While mediation efforts towards a truce and hostage release appear to stall, Hamas's armed wing released a video of a captive seen alive in Gaza -- the third such footage released in less than a month. The man is seen speaking in the 11-second clip, which is superimposed with text in Arabic and Hebrew that reads: "Time is running out."
Militarised
The new evacuation order for eastern Rafah, posted on social media platform X by military spokesman Avichay Adraee, said the designated areas had "witnessed Hamas terrorist activities in recent days and weeks".
The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
During their attack, militants also seized hostages. Israel estimates 128 of them remain in Gaza including 36 whom the military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
A US State Department report on Friday said it was "reasonable to assess" that Israel violated norms on international law in its use of weapons from the United States but it did not find enough evidence to block shipments.
The State Department submitted its report two days after President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells if Israel goes ahead with an all-out assault on Rafah, where the United Nations said 1.4 million had been sheltering.
Hamas in a statement said Israel's "continued control" and closure of the Rafah crossing exacerbate the "humanitarian catastrophe" in the besieged territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to "eliminate" Hamas battalions in Rafah, after the army in January said it had dismantled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza.
