DayofPal– An Israeli airstrike has claimed the lives of 12 members of the Khilla family, including seven children, in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence rescue agency.
On Friday evening, the agency shared a heart-wrenching video on its Telegram channel, capturing its teams desperately pulling victims from beneath the rubble of the family’s home in Jabalia.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the AFP news agency that “All of the martyrs are from the same family, including seven children, the oldest aged six,” adding that the air raid injured 15 other people.
Search efforts continued to find more of the missing under the rubble of the bombed home with witnesses described what happened as more of a massive explosion that led to what felt like an earthquake.
“It not only destroyed the bombed home, but also shook the foundation of the nearby homes,” a local resident said.
The attack destroyed many of the nearby residential homes sheltering many of the displaced people from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children and described the crime as “cruelty”. “Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” he said. “I want to say it because it touches my heart.”
On Friday, medics reported that an Israeli airstrike killed at least seven Palestinians, including four children, in an apartment in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza strip.
On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike targeted the vicinity of the Al-Aman kindergarten in northern Gaza, where an initiative to support children’s mental health was being held.
Journalist Hussam Shabat said: “The atmosphere quickly shifted from joy and smiles to panic and fear. Fortunately, no children inside the kindergarten were injured, a place that is supposed to embody the meaning of its name: “safety.”
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