"They were children sleeping." Ten family members killed in airstrike on Rafah, hospital officials say (2024)

At least 10 family members, including five children aged between three and 16, were killed in an overnight airstrike on a neighborhood in Rafah, in southern Gaza, the local hospital reported.

The mother of the Ayyad family is still missing, according to a CNN stringer at Abu Youssef Al-Najjar hospital, were CNN footage showed relatives weeping over the bodies of the deceased wrapped in white shrouds.

Those killed had been displaced multiple times from Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, in Gaza City, in northern Gaza, an uncle told CNN. In the aftermath of the attack, many of the children were found with their remains scattered and missing, relatives added.

���They were displaced from one place to another," Suzan Abu Touha, who says her sister was among the dead, told CNN. "They were terrified and scared and running from one place to another and they didn’t find a place -- and this is the place they found. Where are they supposed to go?”

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after several days of deadly military operations, according to the Civil Defense Directorate in the besieged enclave.

Geolocated videos show extensive destruction in the area, with several apartment blocks destroyed or heavily damaged.

The Directorate said that its crews had been able to recover several bodies from under the rubble, but the removal of others would require heavy excavation equipment.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN the situation was “tragic."

Basal estimated that about 500 people had been killed, wounded, detained or gone missing in the military operation. CNN cannot verify the estimate and has contacted the Israeli military about the scope and purpose of its operations in Nuseirat.

The mayor of Nuseirat, Iyad Maghari, said that a week of Israeli assaults in the area had “deprived residents of the most basic human services, such as water, sanitation and waste collection.”

Maghari said about 25,000 square meters of roadways, water wells and generators that pumped water had been destroyed.

He said that about 20,000 tons of waste had accumulated in the streets and around shelters due to the lack of fuel and the destruction of municipal vehicles, leading to a problem with vermin.

The sewage system had been extensively damaged, he said, with more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of pipes destroyed.

The head of the UN's main relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA) has said that an “insidious campaign” is underway to end its operations, warning of "serious implications for international peace and security.”

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the agency was being “denied permission to deliver this aid and save lives."

UNRWA has been under fire since Israel alleged that some of its employees were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack. Israel has long campaigned for UNRWA, the main distributor of aid in Gaza, to be disbanded. Israel has also banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza’s north.

More than a dozen countries pulled funding for UNRWA after the allegations, some of which have resumed donations.

Lazzarini said children were "bearing the brunt of this war," with more than 17,000 separated from their families and "left to face the horror of Gaza alone."

He also warned that "a man-made famine is tightening its grip" across Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike killed eight people from one family in Rafah on Wednesday night, according to a journalist working for CNN, citing hospital officials.

The airstrike occurred in the Al-Salam neighborhood the the southern part of Rafah.

The bodies of the victims – all belonging to the Ayyad family, who were displaced from Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave – were brought to the Abu Yousuf Najjar hospital.

The eight killed included five children, according to a list provided by a hospital official.

CNN has asked the Israeli military for comment.

See Also

Hamas tells negotiators it doesn’t have 40 Israeli hostages needed for first round of ceasefire | CNN

Food supplies have entered northern Gaza for the first time through the Erez crossing, which Israel agreed to open earlier this month, according to the World Food Programme.

The UN food agency said three convoys crossed via Erez on April 14, 15, and 16, with 25 trucks carrying around 404 metric tonnes of food parcels and wheat flour.

UN agencies have said that getting aid to northern Gaza has been incredibly challenging because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, and debris blocking roads.

Israel earlier this month approved the reopening of the Erez crossing for the first time since the October 7 Hamas attacks, as well as the use of the Ashdod Port for aid. The announcement came hours after US President Joe Biden pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more aid into Gaza.

The first aid shipment to Gaza via the Ashdod Port was transferred on Wednesday.

Gaza is facing a worsening hunger crisis as tonnes of aid have been held up at various land crossings. Humanitarian workers and government officials havepreviously told CNN that there’s a pattern of Israeli obstruction of aid into Gaza.

The EU’s top diplomat warned Thursday that the Middle East is on the brink of a regional war, and that European leaders must ask Israel for a “restrained answer” to Iran’s weekend airstrikes.

Iran launchedthe attackinretaliationfor a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria earlier this month.

Borrell said that "humanitarian support has increased very little” for Gaza and that the aid reaching the enclave was “very insufficient.”

His comments come a day after British Foreign Minister David Cameron urged the world’s largest economies to coordinate sanctions against Iran, to show a “united front.”

The EU has announced it would widen sanctions against Iran following the Islamic Republic's attack

"We have decided to put in place sanctions against Iran, it is a clear signal that we want to send," European Council President Charles Michel said Wednesday at an EU summit.

The US also plans to impose new sanctions targeting Iran following its attack.

More than 13,800 children have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, according to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

And "one child is injured or dies every 10 minutes" in Gaza, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women said in a statement.

More than 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza since the war began, 6,000 of whom left 19,000 orphaned children behind, the statement said.

CNN cannot independently verify these numbers due to a lack of media access to Gaza.

Here are the latest developments in the region:

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Al-Maghazi refugee camp has risen to 14, including eight children, according to Al-Aqsa hospital officials.

The airstrike hit the refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday, with initial reports saying 13 people — including seven children — were among those killed.

The Israeli military said the incident is under review.

Footage of the strike: Graphic video, obtained exclusively by CNN from eyewitness Nihad Owdetallah,showed several casualties scattered on the floor, including children, with blood streaming around the area.

In the video, dozens of people appear to be running around in panic, screaming and trying to count and carry the dead bodies. A foosball table covered in dust is seen among the dead bodies.

Footage shot for CNN from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital showed a continuous flow of casualties and wounded people being ushered in, as the emergency room is crowded with patients, including several wounded children, crying out on the floor. Family members were seen crowding over their loved ones’ dead bodies, kissing them, holding onto them, and sobbing.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani expressed concerns Wednesday over the state of international mediation efforts led by Qatar to help reach a hostage and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Al Thani, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, criticized the misuse of Qatar's efforts for “narrow political” gains by some involved, undermining the broader goal of peace and humanitarian relief, “which required the State of Qatar to conduct a comprehensive evaluation.”

He emphasized the sensitivity of the ongoing talks and highlighted the challenges faced in bridging gaps between conflicting parties. He also pointed out the inconsistency between private assurances and public statements by involved parties, describing such actions as counterproductive.

While he did not mention anyone by name, the comments followed a statement by US Rep. Steny Hoyer on Monday that said if Qatar fails to apply pressure on Hamas to reach an agreement on a deal to release hostages and establish a temporary ceasefire, “the United States must reevaluate its relationship with Qatar.”

On Tuesday Qatar’s Embassy to the US in Washington issued a statement saying it was surprised by Hoyer’s remarks, adding that while the country shares the congressman's frustrations, it does not control Israel or Hamas.