Israeli forces killed and injured numerous Palestinians in airstrikes on central Gaza on June 14, while intensifying their assault on the southern border city of Rafah.
According to WAFA news agency, Israeli warplanes bombed two residential homes in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, killing five people and injuring several others. Ambulance teams rescued the injured from the rubble.
In a separate airstrike in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, civil defense and ambulance crews recovered the bodies of five more victims from a targeted house.
Simultaneously, Israeli tanks and military vehicles bombarded areas east of Khan Yunis in the south, and the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. Residential buildings in the Al-Mughraqa area, north of the Nuseirat camp, were also destroyed by Israeli forces.
Al-Jazeera reported ongoing bombings in western Rafah, including Tal al-Sultan and near the Emirati field hospital, targeting areas around a UNRWA school evacuation center. Residents, unable to flee, faced attacks from quadcopters and surveillance drones.
The Al-Jazeera correspondent highlighted the dire situation, with starvation and dehydration threatening many in northern Gaza.
Hebrew news outlet Hadashot Bazman reported that Qassam Brigades fighters fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli Namer fighting vehicle in Rafah, killing eight soldiers and necessitating evacuations to Israeli hospitals.
Israeli security officials estimate the Rafah operation, which began on May 6, will continue for two more weeks. Senior officials quoted by public broadcaster KAN suggested the operation in southern Gaza would conclude within this timeframe, with forces then shifting to northern Israel to address increasing attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Rafah invasion proceeded despite international warnings about civilian dangers, capturing the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing and blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Amid discussions of a ceasefire among US officials and at the UN, Israeli security officials indicated plans for long-term control over Gaza. This includes maintaining control over the Netzarim Corridor and the Rafah crossing, along with the Philadelphi Corridor buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt.
