Israel strikes on Gaza kill 9, including children, after Biden calls conduct of war ‘over the top’
- Friday’s strikes hit a residential building in Rafah and a kindergarten-turned-shelter for the displaced in the central town of Zuwaida
- Even in areas of refuge, like Rafah, Israel hits Hamas targets, blaming the militant group for civilian casualties because it operates in civilian areas
At least nine people, including children and women, were killed in Israeli air strikes overnight into Friday in the central area of the Gaza Strip and in the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, witnesses and hospital officials said.
The overnight air strikes came hours after US President Joe Biden said that he considers Israel’s conduct of the war to be “over the top”.
“I am of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top,” Biden said on Thursday, after delivering remarks on a special counsel report on his handling of classified documents.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, left Israel on Thursday as the divide grows between the two close allies on the way forward.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been driven by Israel’s military offensive toward the border with Egypt. Unable to leave the tiny Palestinian territory, many are living in makeshift tent camps or overflowing UN-run shelters.
The Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 27,840 people, the Health Ministry in Gaza said. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are starving.
The war began with Hamas’ October 7 assault into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead.