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At least 49 Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes on south Gaza towns

These areas, Khan Younis and Rafah, are where thousands of civilians are seeking refuge; the death toll in the brutal war has crossed over 4,100

Published: Tue 17 Oct 2023, 10:47 AM

Updated: Tue 17 Oct 2023, 10:50 AM

  • By
  • Reuters, AP

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Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah border, Gaza Strip, on Monday. — AP

Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah border, Gaza Strip, on Monday. — AP

A least 49 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Khan Younis and Rafah, Gaza's interior ministry said on Thursday.

Palestinians reported intense bombardments near these southern towns, where Israel ordered civilians to seek refuge, early on Tuesday.


Bombs hit areas west and southeast of Khan Younis and west of Rafah, according to local reports.

Thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which contains the territory’s only border crossing to Egypt, as international mediators press for a deal to allow aid in and refugees with foreign passports out.

The US hoped to break a deadlock over delivering aid to increasingly desperate civilians in besieged Gaza following a brutal attack by Hamas fighters, as President Joe Biden was set to head to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday.

Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege, with hundreds of thousands of people seeking shelter, ever-decreasing water supplies and power running out at hospitals.

AP

AP

At the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid were waiting to go into the tiny, densely populated territory, and trapped civilians — many of them Palestinians with dual nationalities — were hoping desperately to get out.

Mediators were trying to reach a ceasefire to open the border, which shut down last week after Israeli airstrikes, but by early Tuesday it was unclear who was keeping the crossing closed.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, arrived in Tel Aviv for meetings with Israeli military authorities ahead of a Biden visit planned for Wednesday to signal White House support for the country.

AP

AP

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who had returned to Israel after a six-country tour through Arab nations, said in Tel Aviv that the US and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza. There were few details, but the plan would include “the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way.”

Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks, and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border.

At least 2,778 people have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians massacred in Hamas’ October 7 assault.

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