The house near Rafah shook violently and people screamed. Rosalia Bollen, spokesperson for UNICEF, tells the news agency AP about "a terrible night". Around 2 am, she woke up to powerful explosions.
The bombings continued throughout the night, albeit with lower intensity than in the beginning. All night, we have constantly heard drones and planes above us, says Bollen.
Women and children
According to reports from Gaza's hospitals and the Hamas-controlled health authorities, over 400 people have been killed and many more injured during the bombardment. Israel claims that the attack is targeting terrorist-stamped Hamas military, leaders, and infrastructure – citing that Hamas does not want to extend the first phase of the ceasefire and release more hostages without negotiating phase two.
Many of the injured are reportedly women, children, and the elderly. Newly taken pictures show relatives with dead bodies wrapped in sheets or blankets at hospitals and morgues. Other photos show devastation and people fleeing on foot or with carts.
In the border town of Rafah in the south, 17 people from the same family are reported to have been killed in the attacks. Twelve of them were women and children, writes AP, citing the European Hospital, which received the bodies.
Fleeing their homes
Nightmarish scenes are reported to be unfolding at hospitals across Gaza. Ambulances are arriving in a steady stream at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where AP's reporter witnesses patients, some screaming in pain, lying on the floors.
Suzanne Abu Daqqa, who lives in Abasan in southern Gaza, tells The New York Times that Tuesday night's bombings awakened painful memories from the early days of the war.
We soon realized that it wasn't just in our area – it was all over Gaza, she says.
Not far from there, Gaza residents are now fleeing, carrying their belongings and water cans. This comes after Israel issued an evacuation order for eastern Gaza Strip, which is interpreted as a signal that new ground offensives are to be expected.
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas' large-scale attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when over 1,200 people were killed and hostages were taken. The now-broken ceasefire began on January 19.
