Israeli airstrikes in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip have resulted in the tragic deaths of at least five people, according to Palestinian hospital officials. Among the victims were two young children, Sham Najjar, 6, and Jamal Nabahan, 8, whose lives were cut short in the overnight strikes.
The ongoing conflict has forced more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population to seek refuge in Rafah, where Israel has been conducting near-daily raids in preparation for an offensive. In central Gaza, four individuals lost their lives in Israeli tank shelling as they attempted to move to northern Gaza, where Israel’s military is preventing residents from returning to their homes.
In a surprising development, a top Hamas political official expressed willingness to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel, offering to lay down weapons and transition into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders. However, it is unlikely that Israel will consider such a proposal, as it remains steadfast in its goal to crush Hamas and opposes the creation of a Palestinian state on lands captured in the 1967 war.
In response to the escalating crisis, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion war aid measure, including $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which is on the brink of famine. The conflict, which was sparked by a raid into southern Israel by militants, has resulted in the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians, with a significant number being children and women. The devastating impact of the war has left Gaza in ruins, with a large portion of the population displaced and seeking refuge in other parts of the enclave.