8:19 am ET, May 4, 2024
At least 9 killed in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes target residential buildings, Gaza authorities say
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder, Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, and Tamar Michaelis
Deadly Israeli airstrikes have hit residential buildings across Gaza, killing nine people.
Three people were killed and several were injured, including two children, after an Israeli airstrike targeted two residential buildings east of Rafah, according to a Gaza General Directorate of Civil Defense statement.
The Israel Defense Forces released a statement Saturday has confirmed hitting targets, saying it “is operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities,” and that “the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”
Israeli airstrikes have been targeting Rafah, where at least 1.2 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, for weeks ahead of an anticipated ground offensive.
Elsewhere, in northern Gaza, three people were killed and three injured after an Israeli airstrike targeted a family home in Jabalya in the early hours of Saturday morning.
In another instance, three people were killed, including a woman, in an Israeli airstrike that hit a family home east of Al-Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza on Friday at midnight, according to the director-general at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Iyad Issa Abu Zaher.
CNN has reached out to the IDF about the specific airstrikes reported in northern and central Gaza.
