Dozens killed in Gaza-Israel hostility exchange

GAZA, Middle East－The death toll from violence in Gaza has risen to 31, including six children and four women, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

More than 250 people in Gaza had been wounded since Friday, the Palestinian health authorities said.

The Israeli air force targeted a house in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah without warning on Saturday night, killing two Palestinians and wounding more than 30 others, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said the raid targeted Khaled Mansour, commander of the southern brigade of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ.

The PIJ said in a statement on Sunday that the civil defense crews retrieved Mansour's body and that of several of his companions after digging for hours in the rubble from Israeli bombings.

According to the AP report, Mansour was in the apartment of a member of PIJ when the missile struck, flattening the three-story building and badly damaging nearby houses.

"Suddenly, without warning, the house next to us was bombed and everything became black and dusty," said Wissam Jouda, who lives next to the targeted building.

Ahmed al-Qaissi, another neighbor, said his wife and son were among the wounded, suffering shrapnel injuries. To make way for rescue workers, al-Qaissi agreed to have part of his house demolished.

The Rafah strike was the deadliest so far in the current round of fighting initiated by Israel on Friday.

Fear and panic were visible on the face of 10-year-old Asmaa Al-Najjar, after Israeli warplanes bombed an apartment adjacent to her home in the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City.

"Israeli shelling took place when I was in the room with my brother, which frightened us a lot," she said in a trembling voice.

Palestinian social media platforms were filled with pictures and videos of 5-year-old Allaa Qadoum, who was killed in the strike on Friday. Her parents cried while carrying her body wrapped with a Palestinian flag.

"Allaa was playing in front of the house when the Israeli warplanes bombed a target in the vicinity of the place and a shrapnel penetrated her head," the girl's grandfather said with tears in his eyes.

"What was the fault of Allaa for being targeted and killed? Was she firing missiles at Israel?"

The girl was about to enter kindergarten at the end of this month and asked for new clothes and a new schoolbag, he said.

Residents in Gaza said the airstrikes were a big shock and many families were preparing for a weekend on the beach of Gaza to escape from the summer heat and power shortage.

Following the intensive airstrikes, the streets of the enclave's cities and towns seemed almost empty, with only firefighters' vehicles and ambulances driving around.

All cafes and hotels overlooking the seaside were closed after customers left immediately.

Agencies - Xinhua